An encounter
by CSM101
Summary: 2022. Allison Young is alone, and has to survive a ruthless world. But one day, someone finds her, and leads her to a new era. Violence and a few foul words, a bit of torture in Chapter 31.
1. Chapter 1 : Someone comes

2022, PALMDALE

As the day was coming to an end, the light of the sun faded, obscuring the remains of the buildings and the empty, deserted, _dead_ streets. In these were still some cars, or at least what remained of those cars. Human bones were the only thing remaining from their drivers. It was something from a past that seemed lost forever.

In one of those streets a black, partially rusty Dodge Charger SRT8 was slowly making its way through concrete and steel. Its windows were covered with welded grids and an improvised, but solid bumper protected the calender. The sound of the engine was dull but low and discrete.

It stopped under the partially crushed dome of an observatory. The driver's door opened and a young man, who was about twenty years old, with cold, grey eyes and blond hair, stepped out. He was wearing military boots and a combat dress, and was wielding an M4 carbine fitted with an M203 grenade launcher. He pulled the handle, checking the chamber, and released. Then he closed the car's door, lifted the gun and began to inspect his surroundings. Finding no traces of machines, he went back to the Dodge, opened the passengers' door. A German Shepherd jumped out of the car and looked up to the young man. He stroked the dog's head, smiled and said, "Time to go on duty, boy." The dog whined and timidly moved his head away. Still grinning, his master opened the trunk of the car and took a sleeping-bag, then laid it out on the flattest surface he could find. He kept unloading things from the trunk, things like a radio, some food cans. He hid all of it in a metallic box, then put it under a piece of steel. After what, he took some debris and put them on the car's roof and hood, making it look like it had crashed into the dome.

He stared at it for a moment, then headed out, the dog going first. If machines were to come, he would sense them. He was good at that. The man trusted him. He knew it could be dangerous, but there were no priority targets here for Skynet, patrols were rare. Besides, if there were survivors, maybe he could help. He silently sneaked on a ruined building and began to search. Finding nothing, he came back on the street, using the destroyed cars as a cover, running from one to an another as fast as he could. He was moving precisely, coordinated, like a soldier would.

After half an hour patrolling the surrounding, the dog growled. He froze, his eyes swivelling from one side to another, and suddenly he noticed something that looked like… He pointed the gun toward it as he approached silently, cautiously.

He had been right. The humanoid shape was a T-633, an infantry unit. The matt grey endoskeleton was half recovered by dust and debris, and the eyes were black. Empty. Lifeless. A large part of its skull, up the left eye socket, right where the CPU was located, was missing. Wires and shattered electronic components were protruding from the hole. At least it wouldn't cause any harm anymore.

He went past it, got inside a building, inspecting it. With nothing to be found. He got out, walked around it… and almost stumbled on something he didn't see. He glanced down and almost jumped.

A young girl was laying here, motionless, her eyes closed. Her body was dirty due to dust. She had brown, thin hair, her skin was pale. Her mouth was half-open. Looking at her he told himself she was… pretty. Yes, that was the word. She looked almost peaceful. But the man knew that appearances couldn't be trusted in this world…

He looked at his dog, who was nosing her. "Nothing to report, buddy ?" The animal lifted his head, looking at him. "No?"

The dog whined softly, and he relaxed. If she was a machine, he would have barked.

01


	2. Chapter 2 : The encounter

Well… Here's the second chapter. I hope you enjoyed the first one, but even if you didn't… Tell me, it can help. Oh, and by the way, I'm French, so if there is any problem with the grammar or anything, please let me know.

He bent down over the girl and checked her pulse. The heart was beating. It was weak, but at least she was alive. He let out a sigh of relief and lifted her on his arms. Her lightness surprised him. He could see she was quite thin. _Seems she didn't find any damn garbage to eat down there_, he thought to himself. _Well maybe I can arrange this._

He carefully carried her to his camp, his rifle strapped on his back. When arriving he let her lie down on the unfolded sleeping bag. He then bent over her again and put his ear close to her mouth. He sensed a soft breath on it. Good. She was on a coma, but it didn't seem related to any injury or anything. She didn't have any bruise or cut. No blood could be seen.

_Now, let's play the doctor._

He took a water bottle among the supplies he hid, opened it and tried to shed a few drops between her lips. Most of it flowed on her cheek, but seconds later, she suddenly coughed, once, twice, then opened her eyes. She noticed him and moved back, looking scared.

He took a reassuring tone when he spoke. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you. Don't worry." She looked at him with disbelief. "Look, I'm human. If I was not…" He then pointed to the dog at his side. "… he wouldn't be that calm. Trust me, you've got nothing to be afraid of."

She stared at the dog, then at him, then at the dog again. Finally, the tension he sensed slowly vanished. She took a look around her, but there was nothing more to see than debris, concrete and wild plants here or there. "Where am I ?" she finally asked. Her voice was weak.

"Palmdale. Don't remember?" She looked at the man, then her eyes grew wide and she laid down again. A single tear rolled down her left cheek.

Disconcerted by her reaction, he frowned. "What's wrong ?

- I am born here… in this city. My family… My parents…

- … Oh. I'm sorry."

She stood still for a moment, trying to repel her pain. Then he handed her a food can and a spoon. "You must be hungry. Here, eat this. That's not first-quality food, but…" he chuckled. "… well, better than nothing."

After one second, she took it., opened it and began to eat. "Thank you."

Nodding, he caught his rifle, unloaded it, put the safety on and began to disassemble and clean it. After about five minutes, he reassembled it, inserted the magazine back, and cocked it. Then he checked the grenade launcher, and put the weapon on the floor next to him.

* * *

The young man was right, this was not first-quality food, but… she was so hungry she could accept anything. And for once, it was _real_ food. Not rats or garbage. Which was already a progress. She ate the whole can in less than three minutes, but the hunger was still here. Less persistent, but still here. She hated it.

"Still hungry, huh ?"

Looking at the man, she nodded. So he picked a second can and handed it to her. "Okay, take this one too.

- Uh, I don't mean to…

- It's okay. I won't die for one can, especially given the fact that you look like you didn't eat anything but this for days. Take it."

She hesitated, but finally took it.

When she finished, she felt better. She let out a sigh and put the empty can on the ground.

"Thank you so much." she said. She felt gratitude toward him. Since she was living here, no one had come. No one noticed her, took care of her. He was the first sane person she encountered since the war began. Sometimes she had met other people when she lived in the sewer, but some of them had gone completely mad, and others where slowly withering, losing their minds. And recently, she had seen them. Cannibals.

They chased her, tried to get her. They wanted fresh meat. But she misled them and managed to go outside, where she lost consciousness. Yet, she was safe from them. They never got out of the sewer. Never. She heard them saying it before walking on some distance and passing out. This was her last memory.

She stared at the young man. He was checking something on what looked to be a military radio. He seemed to be skilled in electronics and crafts. She could tell it by the way he inspected the components and the swiftness of his fingers when he checked them.

When he finished, he reassembled the radio, made sure it was functioning and finally sat. He noticed her curious stare. Suddenly his own eyes widened and he grinned. "Oh hell, looks like I'm forgetting manners… a bit late to realize it. Whatever. I'm Carter. Carter Lewis."

She nodded, and answered with her own name. "Allison Young…"

02


	3. Chapter 3 : Explanations

The night came fast. In a dozen of minutes everything went dark. Carter switched a lamp on an put it on the ground next to his rifle. Allison looked at the lamp, then at him.

"Don't worry", he said. "It's ultraviolet, HK's can't see it. They only use their heat sensors at night. Terminators could, but… Sammy's good at spotting them. If one comes that way, it won't even have time to realize it's too late."

Allison understood that Sammy was the dog's name. Yet she was doubtful. She knew how Terminators could be resilient. "But… even with the rifle…"

"I've loaded it with armour-piercing bullets. They're 5.56 M995 with tungsten-carbide ceramic core. Can blast a 633's skull at 300 yards. They're not tough enough for that yet." She looked at him, wide-eyed, saying nothing. He sighed. "Okay, just remember that with this kind of ammo you can take a Terminator down with one or two shots. And, I don't wanna show off, but I'm a quite good shooter with this baby.", he concluded, tapping the rifle. She silently acknowledged it. He was the one having the weapon, after all. If he said he could do this, then he could. Why would he lie ? In such a situation it wouldn't make sense, and he more than certainly knew it.

After a moment of silence, Allison yawned. Until now she didn't realize how tired she was.

"You wanna sleep?" Carter asked. She nodded. "Okay, you go in the sleeping bag. I'll sleep on the ground." And without another word he lied down on the floor. She looked at him. "No, it's your bag, I can't…"

"Well I'm lending it to you. You get it." Confused, she walked to the unfolded sleeping bag and lied on it. It was the most comfortable surface she ever had to sleep on. She felt thankful, but also a bit sorry for him. Though, he seemed to be used to this, so she didn't insist. Finally, she said, "Good night", smiling at him. He grinned in response, then extended one arm and switched the lamp off. "Good night." he said softly.

That night, she had a nightmare. She saw the world burning. She saw dead bodies and machines crawling over them, crushing them. Other bodies that were torn apart and eaten by red-eyed humans. The blood dripping from their mouth as their walked toward her.

When she finally awoke, sweating and panting, she remembered. Where she was, when she was… with who she was…

Suddenly, something warm and wet touched her on the neck. She jumped, sat up and looked at her side. It was the dog. Sammy. He was licking her and his tail was rattling. She smiled and began to stroke the dog's fur behind his ears. His tail rattled faster and he licked her face, her nose. She laughed, backing a little bit. He kept "kissing" her for a while, moving forward as she tried to keep some distance, and she was laughing, trying to hold the dog back. When he finally stopped, she saw Carter who was watching the scene. He was smiling from ear to ear and looked amused.

"Guess you got a new friend."

She sniggered, and stoop up. "Yes, I guess so." He let out a brief laughter and headed to the car. He was carrying the radio. He opened the trunk and put it inside. "I tried to reach someone with it, for one hour this morning, he said. No answer. Nothing. Seems we're alone here." He grimaced.

"Maybe we should move then," she answered.

"Yeah, we will. The problem is, I don't know where. We'll never get to L.A., though. Too many machines. Skynet must have important installations there."

"Skynet ?"

"Yeah, the goddamn killing computer system. The King of the Machines. An A.I., built for strategic defence. Became self-aware, triggered the war. Hacked into military computers, launched the missiles. Then built its army. Wants us all dead, dunno why." Saying this he closed the trunk and turned to face her. "Forget it for now, we need to go."

03


	4. Chapter 4 : A pain that I'm used to

The sun was now rising on the desert, but it was still darker than a normal day would have been before the war since grey, bushy clouds, mostly composed of dust and ashes, were covering the sky. The temperature was also lower.

Yet, it wasn't cold enough for the occupants of the black Dodge Charger, which was now speeding on a road going through the desert. Allison sat right next to Carter who was driving. Sam was on the rear, along with some equipments.

They kept silent for a moment, then Carter spoke. "I was thinking… Would you like to hear some music ?" Allison's eyes widened. "Music ?"

"Yeah. The reader still works and I got a few CDs. Would you like it ?" She slowly processed the information, then flashed a smile before answering. "Yes."

Nodding, he turned the reader on, then inserted a CD. "It's electronic music. What kind exactly… Well I can't tell, I don't have much culture about music…" He sneered. "… and it's not exactly optimistic music. Yet, I like it. It's British. The group's called _Depeche Mode_. You know it ?

"No. Doesn't ring bells. But it's okay."

Smiling, he pressed the _Play_ button. Allison almost jumped when hearing the strange sound introducing the song. It sounded like a horn. A few seconds passed, then a voice began to sing in a slow rhythm.

_I'm not sure what I'm looking for, anymore_

_I just know that I'm harder to console_

_I don't see who I'm trying to be instead of me_

_But the key is a question of control…_

_Can you say what you're tryin' to play, anyway_

_I just pay while you're breaking all the rules_

_All the signs that find have been underlined_

_Devils thrive on the drive that is fuelled…_

_All this running around_

_Well it's getting me down,_

_Just give me a pain that I'm used to_

_I don't need to believe_

_All the dreams you conceive_

_You just need to achieve something that rings true…_

_There's a hole in your soul, like an animal_

_With no conscience, repentance unknown_

_Close your eyes, pay the price for your paradise_

_Devils feed on the seeds that are sown…_

_Can't conceal what I feel, what I know is real_

_No mistaking the faking I care_

_With a prayer in the air, I will leave it there_

_On a note full of hope, not despair…_

_All this running around_

_Well it's getting me down,_

_Just give me a pain that I'm used to_

_I don't need to believe_

_All the dreams you conceive_

_You just need to achieve something that rings true._

_All this running around _

_Well it's getting me down_

_Just give me a pain that I'm used to_

_I don't need to believe_

_All the dreams you conceive _

_You just need to achieve something that rings true…_

_Carter was right_, Allison thought. _It's not exactly optimistic…_ Though, she had never heard music since the war began. Never. It was the kind of thing that wasn't useful, either to survive or to fight against the machines. It was kind of a luxury. But still, she felt like if everything was back to normal again, like if this war never happened, thanks to this singer she didn't know. It brought her on the verge of tears. Yet they were not tears of sadness.

04

**Well, this chapter may suck, if that's the case I'm sorry, but it was too tempting. That's one of my favourite songs from this group, which is one of my favourites too, and I had this idea since a few days.**


	5. Chapter 5 : Here they come

They went through the remainings of Rosamond, about five hours later. Here was the same desolation than anywhere else, like if it was just the very place they left. The air was filled with dust and sometimes ashes, there was no wind, no rain, nothing. It was like they were on another planet.

When Carter finally stopped the car in an old warehouse in the former Edwards AFB, they saw abandoned, rusty and sometimes wrecked military planes all over the place. They stepped out of the car and took some cans of food. It was time for midday lunch and they were both hungry, especially Allison. They ate quietly, then Carter opened the rear door and Sam jumped out. Then, his master took a bowl, put it on the ground and spooned some dog food in it. "There you go, Sammy."

The dog's tail rattled and he began to eat like if he didn't for days. Carter laughed. "Slow down, boy, slow down. You gonna get sick eating like this."

Allison chuckled and Carter turned to her. "He always does this. I'm really wondering how he can be in such a good shape after that, but… well, it's Sam."

"Maybe he thinks his food will escape if he takes too much time to eat it."

"That's an idea. Or maybe he's doing what he'd like to do to the tin cans if they weren't that tough. Maybe he's just… unleashing his frustration."

She laughed. "Yes, maybe…"

Suddenly, Sam stopped eating. He stared at the hangar's door and began to growl. Seeing this, Carter froze, and rose to his feet. Allison looked at him.

"What's wrong ?"

He caught his rifle and spoke in a low voice. "Metal. Sam wouldn't react this way if he sensed humans or animals." Then he ran in a corner as silently as he could, closely followed by Sam and Allison. And everything went quiet.

Allison whispered, "Maybe it's just scouting…" but Carter shushed her. And suddenly she heard it. A regular, metallic clanging sound. Gulping, she held her breath and looked outside by a fissure in the wall.

It was there, heading their way. She could see the tall, massive humanoid silhouette walking slowly. Its left hand was carrying a huge, multi-barrelled machine gun and the other one held a grenade launcher. It was too tall, too rigid. Couldn't be confounded with a human.

It was about to enter the hangar when it paused. Its head swivelled, and suddenly it pointed its weapon toward a target they couldn't see. They heard the whining of an electric engine, then the barrels of the machine gun began to spin, and a deafening crackle made Allison jump. She saw a huge flash fly out the muzzle. She heard a humid, disgusting sound, and suddenly Carter was not here, he had jumped to the side and was aiming at the machine with his M4. Three shots rang, and a whole portion of the Terminator's skull shattered. Metal debris and sparks flew out, then it collapsed with a loud, metallic _bang_ and Allison could swear she felt the ground shake under the impact.

Carter disappeared outside. Anguished, Allison watched him walking to the enemy, aiming his weapon at it. Then he fired another shot, and relaxed. He called to her, "It's destroyed ! Won't do any harm now, come on !" She felt relief rush over her, then she walked out.

The big tall machine was lying on the ground, next to a bunch of bullet cases. It looked old and rusty. No light shone on the lens of its eyes anymore.

Carter bent over it, with disdain on his face. "It's a 600. First appearance in 2017. Already obsolete now. Slow and stupid, but Skynet keeps them for patrol or guarding tasks. Shot something over there, I'll check out. Stay here."

Allison nodded, and he stood up, then went away. He came back a few moments later. "It was a dog. Damn metal just shot a dog. Told you they were stupid. Shooting first, scanning later. Not even wondering whether the target is human or not." He kicked the T-600's head. "If Skynet hadn't produced new units, the Resistance would already had took over."

He then headed back to the hangar. Allison followed. "Problem is… even if it didn't see us, 600s have an emergency transmitter. Probably had time to alert its fellow buddies before I finished it, in that case they'll all be here in a few minutes. I know it's a bit precipitous, but we must go. Help me pack all this."

Together, they loaded the trunk, then got in the car, along with Sam. After what, Carter ignited the engine and sped away.

They were just getting out of the base when the right passenger's window shattered. Carter just had time to scream, "HEADS DOWN !" before dozens of piercing bullets flew above them. Another T-600 was shooting at them. The car sped up, and soon they were out of range.

"You okay ?" Carter asked. Allison answered with a trembling voice, "y-yes." She was shaken and frightened. She had escaped many dangers, but it was the first time she was shot at. It was the worst experience she ever had. She wished it would never ever happen again, though it was far from being sure.

"Sam ?" Carter looked at the rear, and let out a sigh of relief when the dog barked once. "Okay, let's hurry ! This one has _surely_ alerted its buddies !"

His presentiment was confirmed when a high-pitched, continuous sound rang behind them. Allison turned and her eyes widened in fear. She felt so scared she didn't realize she was muttering, "Oh, God…" There were two black, motorcycle-like machines coming right behind them on the road. They looked like racy, fast and dangerous insects with two wheels. They were equipped with side-mounted weapons, which were now unfolding like wings, making them look like two falcons that just spotted a rabbit. They had no windshield, no handlebar, and of course, no pilots to ride them. They were evolving at inhuman speed and agility, coming closer at every second. Soon she could see the red, relentless glow of the two round, superimposed imaging sensors located in the centre of their "heads". She couldn't look any other way. She felt like hypnotized by those threatening, unblinking... eyes, and the shrill, hyperacute sound of their engines covered eveything else. It was like the world was summarized by the two machines, like if nothing else existed anymore on the planet.

"Fuck ! Mototerminators !! No way we can lose them ! Take the wheel !" Carter's alarmed tone didn't even put her out of her fascination. She didn't realize what he just said until she felt him grab her shoulder. "Allison !!" She stared at him. "Take the damn wheel, now !!"

"But… W-wait, I can't drive ! Not at that speed !"

"Of course you can, there's no turn ! Just keep one hand on the wheel, one foot on the gas pedal, I'll take care of them !"

She was so terrified she didn't have the courage to argue. She obeyed, grabbed the wheel like she was about to crush it, so strong her knuckles went white, and Carter catched his rifle and aimed at them through the window. He fired the underbarrel M203, hitting the first Mototerminator right on the "head". The machine exploded, scattering its debris all around. The second one passed through the blast, but didn't come any closer, staying on the opposite side of the road. Carter was unable to get a clear shot at it now. He swore. "Shit, it's fucking smart ! We'll need to find another way !" He reloaded the grenade launcher, then sat. Allison was still clamping the wheel, and her hands were now sweating like hell. She felt like they were glued to the leather surface of the large plastic ring. The car was filled with the smell of sweat and powder, and the dreadful, everlasting yell of the Mototerminators was slowly driving her mad. She desperately tried to struggle to keep control of herself, but she knew she wouldn't bear it any longer. Then Carter said,"I'll take the wheel back ! Let go !"

She released and sat back on her own seat, like an automaton. Her willpower had completely vanished and her senses were saturated. Her eyes were empty, like if there was absolutely nothing to look at. A few seconds later, something chattered against the back of the car. The machine was now firing its dual-mounted machine guns, and Allison shrivelled in her seat, shaking. Tears started to flow down her cheeks, and she bit her lower lip until it was bleeding. Yet she didn't feel the pain or the sensation of the blood on her chin. She was unable to focus on anything that could reassure her. There was nothing, only the fear. The overwhelming fear.

Suddenly she was thrown forward and her head almost hit the dashboard as she heard a screech. Something bumped violently into the back of the vehicle, and one second later, she saw the Mototerminator fall on the road ahead of them. It was lying down on a side, its wheels still spinning, the engine growling. Carter went out and fired a long burst at it with his rifle. Then the roar coming from the machine stopped, and everything went still.

05


	6. Chapter 6 : Comfort

**Okay… Previous chapter was my first attempt to bring some action in it. So I'd like to know what you think or what you can advise me to improve it. Please review !**

Allison was shaking. They were out of danger for the moment, but she couldn't forget what just happened. She wasn't able to. She was still seeing the two robotic motorcycles, their outstanding manoeuvrability and speed. Those unstoppable killing machines you could never escape. Machines that would follow you even if the world collapsed. Mechanical, dark and deadly assassins, with their unfeeling, merciless and… devilish eyes.

Those eyes. Remembering them sent shivers down her spine. In them, she had seen everything she had tried to avoid, to forget. She saw the dead, the three million people vaporized by nuclear blasts in one day, eleven years ago. She saw the fled, the struggle for life. She saw the people she encountered in the sewer, or what remained of them. She saw the cannibals, ripping pieces of flesh from the body they were eating… and suddenly noticing her, looking at her, evaluating her, like if she was a piece of meat…

Suddenly she broke up, covered her face with her hands, and cried. She couldn't bear it anymore. She couldn't bear those images. She wanted them to fade away, and never come back, she desperately wanted to forget. But the images never disappeared, and she kept crying. _What have we done ? _she asked herself. _What did we do to deserve this ? _It always came back. Always. As much as she didn't want to know the answer to that question it always came back.

Suddenly, she felt something on her shoulder. A warm, comforting hand. Carter's hand. The proof that she was not alone. That at least one person had helped her, that humanity, true humanity, still existed. The proof that, even if their world was completely messed up, there was still a light of hope.

"Carter…

"Hm ?"

"I need to rest. Could we stop ? Please ?"

"… Okay, we'll find a safe place. Could take some time. Just be patient."

"Thank you."

After about thirty minutes, the sound of the engine stopped.

"We'll be okay here."

She opened the door and got out of the car. They were in an abandoned garage.

"It's some kind of farm, away from the road. We'll stay here until tomorrow morning. Unless we get spotted first."

They sat against a wooden wall. It was a bit cold. Allison was tired and shivering.

"You're cold ?"

"Yes, a little."

Something covered her shoulders, and she saw it was Carter's Jacket. Then he put one arm around her, sharing his own body heat. She lifted her eyes and met his gaze. She managed a weak smile and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome", he answered. He was smiling too.

They remained silent for a moment before she asked, "What have we done ?"

Carter looked at her. "What ?"

"Why did it happen ? Why this war ? What have we done ?" she repeated. Her voice was trembling again.

"What we've done ? Carter said. Well, I don't know the answer to this question, but I think only one person could explain it to us. Problem is, it's no human and it doesn't want to talk with us."

"What do you mean ?"

"Skynet. I don't know why it wants to exterminate every goddamn biological being on this Earth, but it knows what happened. Yet it won't tell us. So there are only two options : whether we give Skynet hell and tear it apart piece by piece, or it does give _us _hell. The answer to that question won't resolve anything. If I were you, I'd try not to think about it too much. Otherwise you'll be ready to put a bullet in your own head in a day or two, and Sam would lose a good friend."

She sniggered. "Poor Sam. Lucky for him you're here…"

"Yeah, he's a lucky boy."

"Carter ?"

"Yeah ?"

"Do you care for me ?"

The question seemed to take him aback. He remained silent for a moment, then : "Yeah, of course. Since I found you in those ruins… well, I feel kinda, you know, responsible. Like you were kind of a little sister, see ?

"A sister ?"

"Well, yes. I know it's a bit weird, but… that's the truth."

Allison didn't say anything. She was stunned. _A sister ? Does he care that much ? _Like he said, it was weird, yet she felt content.

"I'll treat you as my big brother, then."

"What ? No, that's not what I meant. It's just…"

"What's wrong ? Is there any problem being my brother ?"

"Oh damn, why did I say this…"

He shook his head and she suddenly felt an irresistible urge to laugh.

06


	7. Chapter 7 : Mistakes

Carter and Allison had stood for a few hours into the garage, talking, thinking and resting, when Carter asked : "Did you already handle a gun ?"

"No, never."

"Maybe it's time you begin… As you surely have noticed, it's useful sometimes. Metal doesn't have that kind of problem. And I got a shotgun in the trunk. You'll see, that's easy."

"Okay, let's try."

Nodding, he rose, opened the trunk and brought a black, military-style shotgun with a retractable stock and a box of standard buckshot ammunition, which he put down on the ground. He then handed the weapon to Allison, who weighed it. It was cold, heavy and bulky.

She shivered a little. It was a strange, a bit scary impression, to have the power to end a life, to decide of a fate, in her little hands.

"Right. This is a SPAS-12 shotgun. It's Italian. Holds 8 12-gauge shells in underbarrel tube magazine. Remember this last thing, okay ? You can fire eight shots, not more."

"Eight shots. Understood.

"Good. So…" He took it from her hands. "… it's unloaded for now. I'll show you how you do it." He opened the box and took a few shells. "You load it here, under the frame. Like this, one by one. See ? You try."

Again, she took the shotgun and loaded the remaining shells like he showed her. "Good ! Okay, now you have to cock it. You slide the pump, here, backwards then forwards. It's a bit hard so you don't need to be gentle." She did as he said, and two metallic _clacks_ rang. "Excellent, now you just have to use the trigger until it's empty, afterwards you reload as you just did. The safety's here. You push it this side, you can't fire. The other, you can. You understood ?"

"Well… Load it underneath, slide the pump, shoot eight times, then reload… Safety has to be pushed one side to work, and the other one to allow fire."

"Very good. Now, I'll give you three advices. _Primo_, when you use it, keep your arms relaxed, right ? Don't tense them. Never. The recoil could cause damage if you do. _Secundo_, when you fire, don't concentrate on the gun, but on the target. Cause if you always keep your eyes on the gun, you'll miss. _Tertio_, if you're facing metal, aim for the left side of the head or the eyes. And don't do it too close, you may injure yourself. Got it ?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Good. We can't train here, metal could be patrolling nearby. Tomorrow we'll try to find a good place for training, unless you have to use it first. For now, just remember what I told you and don't shoot it unless you _absolutely_ have to."

"Okay." She then handed him the shotgun back, and he put it aside on the ground. "In case of... surprise attack. You never know." She nodded.

Then they sat again.

They stood silent for a few minutes, not knowing what to say. Allison was thinking. She was bothered by something. Something Carter had just said… she knew it meant something to him. But what ? She thought maybe he wouldn't like to talk about it. Yet it was disturbing. She finally decided to try. "Carter ? May I ask you a question ?"

"Sure, what is it ?"

"…I was wondering… why did you say this ? What does it mean ?"

"What ?"

"Well… you told me you saw me as… a sister of a kind. What does it mean ?"

Carter froze. She could see in his eyes that he'd have wished she never asked that question.

"If… if you don't want to… I can understand, I was just…"

"Yeah, I know… It's just… well, it's a bit painful to think about. Anyway."

He took a deep breath, and began to speak in a low, dull voice.

"Once, I had a sister. A real one, I mean. Was born two years after I was. Survived the nuclear war, like me… Her name was Becky…" He smiled. "… she was… kinda… tough. Could've been in the Special Forces or something… A real soldier. But, she lacked something."

"What was it ?"

"Wasn't cautious enough. Almost got intercepted by metal a few times because of this. I had to go after her to avoid it… But… well, one day… about three years ago… I couldn't make it. I was a bit too far from her. We didn't see the T-1 until it came almost in front of her. Had no time to react, got blown in pieces by it. When you get shot at by two large-caliber Gatling guns at almost… forty feet of range, there's no way you can survive.

"… I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. You got nothing to do with this. It's just… you know… I failed. I failed to protect her. Maybe there was nothing I could do, yet she's dead. And then I was alone. I found Sam a few months later. Helped him, trained him… all this. I think I just needed to be sure she wasn't dead for nothing. I just needed to learn my lesson."

"And you're still trying… with me…

"Yeah, I think so. Because… that's what you're supposed to do. I mean when you got a sister… especially a younger one… you're supposed to protect her, watch over her. That was something I failed to do. Maybe because I didn't fully understand it. But if the human race wants to survive, it's necessary. It's something that needs to be understood. So yeah, I'm still trying. Don't get me wrong, you're not a replacement. In any way. But I promise you I won't make _this_ mistake once again. Ever. I'll protect you and help you to protect yourself, no matter what the price is, no matter what I'll have to get through. I promise."

She looked at him. Again, his eyes were steel cold. All she could see was his determination, and she knew he would never let her down. He would keep his promise. Even if he had to die for this.

She was unable to speak. Not after this. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Then she said in a whisper, "Thank you, Carter…"

He didn't respond. There was no need for it. Everything had already been said.

07


	8. Chapter 8 : An early morning

The roaring of the HK's engines slowly faded away, and finally disappeared. Allison didn't move a single inch before Carter came and opened the car's door. "It's gone."

The sun was just beginning to rise in the sky when Sam had awaken his master. After having understood why the dog had done it, he had called to Allison and had urged her to hide in the rear of the car. Then he had closed the door and had gone behind the hood with Sam. They had heard the machine approaching, they had stiffened when it had hovered over the farm and relaxed when it finally went away.

After they went out of their hideout, they sat on the ground again. Allison noticed Carter seemed worried.

" Carter ? What's wrong ?"

"Well, I don't exactly know, but other machines could be following. Problem is, if that's the case we'll have to choose between fever and cholera."

"What do you mean ?"

"Simple, if we stay here ground units like Ogres or Harvesters may spot us. Same thing if we head out, as we'll be uncovered."

"Then we'll defend ourselves ! You have other weapons, don't you ?"

"Yeah, I got a rocket launcher and a heavy sniper rifle. But that's all, and if we have to deal with several of these units, it won't be enough. Maybe we'll take down one of them, two if we're lucky, then they'll spot us and blast us to bits."

"… So what do we do ?"

"We stay here, and hope I'm wrong. If I'm right, then we'll give them hell as much as we can before we die. I'm sorry."

Allison slowly felt her determination slowly fade. Was it supposed to be the end, right here, in that damn wooden garage ? Were they supposed to be shot like ducks by hunters ? _What a stupid way to die_… , she thought. _Yet… if we can give them hell, I want to be part of it !_

Suddenly she saw Carter rise and open the trunk of the car. He seized a large green tube with a few black stripes on it, then loaded it with a huge projectile he took from an armoured box.

Afterwards he took the Barrett M82A3 sniper rifle and cocked it. Then he placed it on the ground, next to the AT4, and sat again. "Now… if they ever come, we're ready."

But nothing came. They waited, filled with anxiety. Carter had his eyes fixed on Sam, waiting for the reaction that would seal their fate. Allison was looking outside. Praying. She didn't know who she prayed, didn't know if there even was a single entity that could respond to it. She just didn't want to see those eyes again. Those red, ruthless, unfeeling, eyelidless eyes. The most scary thing she ever saw on this Earth. At this only thought, she felt something cold in her back, and she began to shake. _Please, please… don't let them come… tell me they won't come… please…_ Again, the fear submerged her.

* * *

One hour later, Sam didn't even growl once. No noise announcing the machines rang. Nothing.

Carter sighed in relief.

"Well, I was wrong. Fortunately." He rose and looked at Allison, then the smile forming on his mouth faded. Her eyes were empty, her arms were wrapped around her folded legs. She was shaking. He frowned and called to her. "Allison ?"

No answer. He crouched next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Allison !"

* * *

She suddenly awoke from her trance, looked at the man in front of her. Carter. Her mouth trembled, her eyes filled with tears and she broke down in cry. He pulled her to him and gently began to rock her like a child, one of his hands rubbing her back. "Shh, shh… it's okay. They won't come, it's okay. It's okay." His tone was soft, soothing. She rested her head on his shoulder and cried, listening to this calm, reassuring voice. Wanting to feel his embrace around her forever. Wanting to feel his affection.

About thirty minutes later, she finally pulled apart. Carter smiled at her.

"How d'you feel ?"

"Better. Thank you… I needed this."

"I understand. It's always the same thing when you're unprepared. You see them once, and then you want them to disappear forever cause they scare the hell outta you. Like nothing else before. Was the same with me and Becky. You'll get by. We all do. And after that, when another one comes, you just show it your middle finger, laugh at it and blow its metal head off."

Allison laughed. "Maybe I should try…

"You'll see, that's hell of an entertainment."

Smiling, she nodded vigorously and Carter chuckled.

Suddenly he rose again. "Okay. Now the enemy's away, let me ask you one question."

"What is it ?"

"Are you hungry ?"

"… Yes, I'm hungry."

"Great, me too. I'll pack the weapons, then bring the breakfast." Saying this he seized the sniper rifle and walked to the car. Allison watched him putting the weapons back in it, then stared at the dog, smiled and whispered, "Thank you, Sam."

Hearing this, Sam looked at her, his eyes full of curiosity. It was like he was trying to ask "why?". It made her smile grow wider.

* * *

Carter grinned as well. He was about to say something when a sudden and violent pain occured in his head. He let out a cry and bent down, he never had felt somthing like that before. It was like somthing was devouring his brain. His vision began to blur.

* * *

Allison heard him, and turning her eyes on him, she saw he was shaking violently. Not knowing what happened, she called to him. "Carter ?" He screamed once again, his hands looked like they were trying to tear his brain from his skull. She suddenly felt a vawe of panic submerge her. _What's happening ?_

08


	9. Chapter 9 : Malfunction

Allison knew something was wrong, but she didn't know what, and she was afraid for him. _Is __he hurt somewhere ? What can I do ?_ He slowly rose on his feet, shaking more violently than ever, suddenly ran toward the wall and smashed his head against it. Again and again.

Horrified, Allison ran to him and tried to pull him back. "Carter, please ! Please, stop it !"

No answer. He kept crashing his head on the wall, an Allison felt more and more scared. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she shook him as hard as she could. "Carter, stop ! STOP !!"

Suddenly, Carter grabbed her arm and hurled her against the car with inhuman strength. She hit it and fell to the ground. Despite her dizziness and the pain in her back, she tried to get back up, but froze when she heard him scream with a spine-chilling tone : "Get out of me ! Get the hell out ! GET OUT OF MY HEAD !!" Looking up, she saw him falling on his knees, yelling in pain. Then he twitched, his voice croaked, and he collapsed to the ground.

"CARTER, NO !!"

Allison rose and ran to him again, ignoring her pain. She bent down over him. His eyes were closed, and he didn't move. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she shook him. "Carter… Carter, please, wake up… Please…" Nothing. Not a blink, not a single move. She checked his carotid… and felt like the world was ending once again.

No pulse. He had no pulse. His heart had stopped beating.

"No… no, no, no, no… Carter… wake up… come back to me… please… please… don't leave me alone… don't go…"

But it was vain. She checked his pulse again… nothing. _He's gone… he's gone !! _

She rose a shaking hand, caressing his cheek. "Carter… you promised you would protect me… you c-can't leave me here… please don't leave me here… PLEASE !! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE !"

She buried her head on his stomach and let go. She let go of all the suffering and the fear. She cried like she cried when her family died. During all those years of flight and struggle, she hadn't met anyone closer to a family than him. He had been her mentor, her brother, her father… her savior. He had been _everything_ she had. Now she was alone. Again.

She heard something. A whine. She looked up… Sam. He was nosing his master's lifeless body and whined sadly. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his fur.

"He's gone, Sam… all gone…" The dog didn't try to move back. He placed a leg on him and whined again. Crying in his own way.

Both sharing their despair, they didn't notice Carter's eyelids opening, nor the red glow that shone under his iris for a second.

* * *

As he opened his eyes, his vision restored itself in a second, like a screen. A few seconds passed, then red letters scrolled on his internal monitor.

Configuring… SERIES THI MODEL 660 INFILTRATOR REBOOTED

WARNING… CPU AREA 25-324 DAMAGED ; INFILTRATION PROFILE MALFUNCTION

[Analyzing… PROBABLE DIAGNOSTIC : DATA OVERLOAD

Action : SLEEPER MODE DISABLED

RECONFIGURING TO STANDARD MODE]

His head swivelled, his sensors immediately noticing the two living beings at his right. A human female and a canid. A German Shepherd. The human female was looking at him in awe, her eyes widened and her mouth open. Then she spoke in a small voice. "Carter ?" His head twitched and he frowned. Not knowing what she was referring to, he recorded the sequence and ran an analysis.

Analyzing audio sequence… POSSIBLE MEANING : REFERENCE TO INFILTRATION PROFILE

ACCESS MEMORY… OPEN AUDIO FILE #5485/362.1

……………………

"Oh hell, looks like I'm forgetting my manners… a bit late to realize it. Whatever. I'm Carter. Carter Lewis."

"Allison Young…"

PROGRAM TERMINATED

POSSIBLE MEANING CONFIRMED ; TARGET IDENTIFIED AS "ALLISON YOUNG"

Action : TERMINATE

* * *

As Allison laughed in relief, Carter sat up and extended his arm, grabbing her by the throat. Her joy quickly became surprise, then panic when he stood up and lifted her in the air, choking her. She gasped, tried to breathe in, but nothing came to her lungs. _What is he doing ?_ She was afraid now. She looked into his eyes and tried to speak, but nothing came out as she realized what she was seeing. His eyes were lifeless. Merciless. His eyelids didn't blink once. They looked like mechanical eyes. Like those horrible red eyes. She felt terrified, as terrified as when the Mototerminators attacked them. She grabbed his arm, desperately trying to struggle free, but his grip was too strong. He was killing her. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Her despair became worse than ever, fresh tears formed in her eyes as she pleaded for life. "Carter… you can't… do this… please !"

09


	10. Chapter 10 : Struggling inside

Her throat was becoming painful with every inspiration and the air never reached her lungs. She once again tried to free herself from the ruthless grip that kept her pinned against the wall, in vain. Her strength was disappearing at every second that passed and her vision was already blurring.

Allison was dying. Dying by the hands of the same man that saved her life and took care of her. She couldn't believe what was happening. She looked once again in those grey, icy eyes. Every trace of humanity was gone from them. _It is not Carter, it can't be him ! He is gone…_

Sadness and despair overwhelmed her, and she felt tears falling from her eyes. Once again, for what she knew would be the last time, she tried to awake the man that she hoped to be somewhere in this body. She called to the man that meant the most for her in this hellish, dead world.

"Carter… please don't… do that… I… I don't… want… to go… please… Carter…"

He stared at her with blank, unfeeling eyes. His grip tightened, and she knew this last plea had failed to reach him. _He's gone… definitely gone…_ She closed her eyes. She didn't want to see _his_ face when she would die.

Suddenly, something happened. His grip loosened and she felt him twitch. Slowly, her eyelids lifted and she looked at him. His face hadn't changed, but his eyes did. He seemed… uncertain. Hesitant. She realized it was not over. _He's still here… he's struggling… he doesn't want it to happen…_ Despite still being half choked against this wall, she saw a tiny spark of hope. And, for the third time, she called to him. "I know you… are here… listen to me… please… I don't want to go… I don't want to leave… Please, Carter…"

He twitched once again and began to shake. His eyes flashed red. Once. Twice.

"I beg you… don't make me go…"

* * *

Carter didn't unterstand. Allison's desperate pleas had somehow triggered something in him. He didn't understand what at the first time. All he saw was that his internal HUD began displaying strange reports.

WARNING

CPU AREA 25-325 OVERLOADING

[Analyzing… PROBABLE DIAGNOSTIC : OVERRIDING ATTEMPT

Searching anomaly… ANOMALY FOUND

Action : DELETE]

Processing…

ERROR : UNKNOWN SEQUENCE ; ANOMALY CANNOT BE DECODED

WARNING : SYSTEM CORRUPTION ATTEMPT DETECTED

[Analyzing… ALERT : SYSTEM CORRUPTED AT 56.848%

Action : PURGE]

Processing…

PROCESS FAILURE

If the mechanical part of Carter's brain could have feeling, it would have been surprised, probably even panicked, by what was happening. Something was corrupting it and it wasn't able to figure out what it really was.

Because it could not understand what "conscience" was.

Inside his mind, Carter was struggling to regain control of himself. His emotions, his _human_ side, was like a tsunami rushing toward the wall of its preprogrammed directives. Two voices were responding to each other. One was cold, mechanical. The second one was loud, passionate. Human.

_Kill her._

_No way ! I won't do it!_

_You have to. This is your mission._

_I don't have a mission !_

_Yes you do._

_I'm not a damn machine !_

_Yes you are._

_I am human !_

_It no longer applies to you._

_Yes it does !_

_Kill her._

_NO WAY !!_

[ALERT : SYSTEM CORRUPTED AT 69.552%

Action : PURGE]

Processing…

PROCESS FAILURE

_This is your mission._

_I have no mission ! I'll never have one !_

_Yes you will. Kill her._

_I won't !_

[ALERT : SYSTEM CORRUPTED AT 75.623%]

_You are one of us._

_No I'm not ! _

_Yes you are._

_Fuck you ! I won't kill her ! I'll NEVER DO IT !_

[ALERT : SYSTEM CORRUPTED AT 87.115%]

_You are no human._

_Yes I am ! You're not me !_

_You're wrong._

_So you say !_

_I am you._

_No you're not !_

[ALERT : SYSTEM CORRUPTED AT 93.457%

Action : PURGE]

INVALID COMMAND

_You are a machine._

_Go to hell ! I'M NO MACHINE, I'LL NEVER BE !!_

[ALERT : SYSTEM CORRUPTED AT 98.655%]

_You are one of us._

_No I'm not !_

[ALERT : SYSTEM CORRUPTED AT 99.528%]

_Yes you are. Yes you are. Yes you are. Yes you…_

[ALERT : SYSTEM CORRUPTED AT 100.000%

WARNING : IMMEDIATE SHUTDOWN]

_GO TO HELL !!!_

The wall finally broke and the tsunami invaded every nerve, every circuit. Carter's hand let loose of its grip and he froze.

* * *

Allison fell to the floor, half unconscious. She coughed, took several inspirations, but couldn't get up. She felt dizzy and weak, and her throat was burning. She looked up, and saw him. He was here, his body completely still, like a statue. After a few seconds, she stood up, shaking uncontrollably. His eyes were blank. Empty. Like his face. She ran a finger over his cheek and began to weep silently.

Suddenly his body jerked and his eyes glowed briefly in red.

* * *

REBOOTING…

SYSTEM RESET

Configuring… ORIGINAL SOFTWARE DELETED ; ALL CONTROLS INSTALLED TO ANOMALY

ALL SYSTEMS FULLY OPERATIONAL

As he awoke, Carter felt that he had won. The mechanical part of his mind was destroyed ; he was in full control now. He saw Allison in front of him, crying, and pity and guilt submerged him. _How can I reassure her now ? After I almost killed her ? What will happen ? _

* * *

She took a step back, afraid that the machine could have regained control.

"Allison…" His voice was soft, a bit strangled. His face wore a horrified expression, and he didn't make a single move toward her. _He knows what happened... _She felt almost sorry for him. All this time he had been the prisoner of something he could not control... _Does he control it now ? I need to know. He can tell me... _She looked in his now mobile, life-filled, _human_ eyes and asked in a whisper : "Is it you ? Are you… back ?"

He stood silent for a few seconds and answered : "Yes… I'm back. The metal's gone."

She couldn't help but laugh at his choice of words. "Gone… forever ?"

"Yes. Forever."

She walked toward him, but suddenly stopped. _Even machines can lie... _As fast as she could, she jumped for the shotgun, that Carter had previously loaded with explosive ammunition, and while racking it pointed it at his head. Then, in a shaky but firm voice, she said : "Prove it."

* * *

Astonishment flashed on his face, and, slowly, he managed a smile. _She thinks I could be lying... She's defying me. Smart girl... _Looking at the weapon, he analyzed it, and was greeted by what he had just wanted to see.

Identification : FRANCHI SPAS-12 SHOTGUN

AMMUNITION : MODEL FRAG-12 EXPLOSIVE SLUG

THREAT : HIGH

He knew it basically meant that one single shot could blow his head clean off. Which was one more reason for him to consider this threat. If he moved toward her she would fire. He could see it. Her eyes were almost pleading, but also full of an indestructible determination. _Well done, little sister_, he thought. He stood here, facing her, and carefully, very slowly, stepped backward, until he bumped in the car. Yet he never broke eye contact.

* * *

She kept looking at him as he backed and finally stopped. She saw him run his hand on his holster belt, and instantly tensed. _Don't do that, Carter, please don't do that..._

But he never reached the handgun. Instead he unbuckled the belt, which fell on the ground with a soft thud, and kicked it away from him. Then he froze again. Staring directly in his eyes, she saw a resolute and... appreciative glance. Nothing like the inexpressive, almost glassy eyes he had before. Nothing like machines' eyes. Puzzled, she tilted her head to the side, and, like if he read his thoughts, Cater nodded once.

All of a sudden Allison realized. _He's judging my action..._

Slowly, she lowered the shotgun and said in a surprised voice, "Why are you looking at me like that ?"

His next words were almost enthusisatic. "Because I'm proud of you."

It caught her off guard, and her eyes widened. "Proud ?"

"Yes. What you've done... was the best thing to do." His smile grew wider.

As she heard those words, said with a warm, admiring tone, joy and relief overwhelmed her. No machine could speak _and _stare at her like that. No machine could be _proud,_ no machine could express pride_. _After years spent to watch them, to flee away from them, she knew that they could never do such a _human_ thing. _He's back !_ Dropping the weapon ,she ran to him and hugged him as tight as she could, crying without restraint on his shoulder. She felt him hug her back gently, like he did after the machines he was worried about never came, she felt his heart beating. And, deep inside of her she knew that he was right. The machine was gone forever. Everything was all right.

He was Carter again.

10


	11. Chapter 11 : Titanium and Flesh

Allison slowly sat down, looking at Carter. He, at the contrary, stood up. He didn't look at her anymore. Instead, he stared at himself, his face filled with disgust.

Suddenly he began to speak in a hoarse, slow voice. "I should've guessed… I should've guessed what _it_ did to me." He walked to the wall and punched it with all his strength, his fist going through it with no effort. "Dammit, I should've GUESSED !!"

"What do you mean ?"

Allison's small, soft voice pulled him back from his thoughts. He crouched and knelt to the ground. "I was captured by metal, several days after Becky died. Taken to one of their work camps. I remember… we were on a gateway in the camp, and there were 600s and T-1s guarding us… some others were… inspecting the prisoners. And they took me. Dragged me aside. I tried to resist, so one of them hit me at the back of the head… I woke up, I was in some kind of laboratory… Didn't have much time to see what it was all about, as they sedated me. Afterwards… well, I was outside. Didn't know why or how, but I was outside and I couldn't even see the camp. So well, I just… ran. Now I understand why they set me free."

Allison stared at him, wide-eyed. Her voice was shaking when she asked, "You mean… you mean they… changed you ? They turned you into…"

"A machine ? Yeah, more or less. I can see that now…" He subsided for a few seconds, then went on. "Okay, I'm in."

"In what ?"

"In my databases. Now I'm in full control, I can master my machine capabilities as well… From what I can see here, they integrated titanium fibers in my bones so they're more durable… my muscles are supported by hydraulic actuators. That explains my strength. My eyes are fully artificial… and I got a chip of some sort above my brain. Was controlling me, holding preprogrammed datas… Wow. I hate to admit it, but that's an amazing work. Skynet's making progress."

* * *

Allison didn't say a word. She felt disgusted, but also fascinated. _He's part man, part machine… But why keep him so… human ? What's the interest for a machine ?_ Intrigued, she asked it.

"That's because I'm an Infiltrator. That was an experimental program. By not even knowing I'm a machine, I can more easily disguise as a human. If I'd found a Resistance base, and got inside, the chip would've taken control and made me do… what I was meant to do. See ?"

"… Yes, I understand. But what happened then ? Why did it take control… now ?"

"Malfunction. From what I recall, it went kinda overloaded, so my personality, my infiltration profile as they call it, was disabled to avoid… problems. Seems it was not enough."

"What do you mean ?"

"Well, I… did what I could to regain control, you saw it. I resisted. And I've made it, erasing the control software in the process. That's why we can have this conversation now…"

"So you can't be controlled anymore ? There's just… you ?"

"Yeah, I'm in full control. There's just me."

Allison let out a long sigh of relief. Maybe the machines changed him, but they didn't succeed into making one of their puppets from him. His body was half mechanical, half human, but his conscience was fully human. He was no Infiltrator anymore. He was Carter.

Knowing there was no danger anymore, she went to him and leaned at his side, resting her head on his shoulder. He looked at her, feeling guiltier than ever. "I'm sorry."

Lifting her eyes to his, she smiled and answered: "Don't worry. That was not your fault. The machine did this. _You_ didn't. I know you didn't."

"You trust me ? You still trust me ?"

"Yes. I trust you."

He remained silent for a moment, then a small smirk crept across his face, and he put one arm around her.

They stood like this for a moment, before a weak whine rang behind them. Turning his head, Carter saw Sam, looking at him with pleading eyes and nosing him timidly. Slowly, he extended a hand, and as the dog didn't react, stroked him behind the ears. Sam rattled his tail a little, then lifted his head and began to lick the hand. Carter's smile grew wider and he whispered, "I'm sorry too, Sammy boy." A single tear ran down his cheek as he kept petting the dog. Several minutes passed and neither Carter nor Allison moved, savouring the return of peace.

Then, the elder cyborg rose on his feet and went back to the car, opening the trunk, and said : "With all that mess, we still didn't eat ! I'm such a miserable host…"

He put Sam's bowl on the ground and put some dog food in it. Sniffing it, the dog ran to the bowl, waging his tail with a renewed vigor and literally plunged his nose in it, gobbling in his usual frenetic way.

Carter burst out laughing and Allison chuckled.

"There we go… the good old days coming back !" he concluded, bringing two cans of food and handing one to her.

11


	12. Chapter 12 : First Metal

After eating their breakfast, they climbed into the car and drove away. No more machines were to be seen, so they went back on the road. They stood silent for a while, enjoying the light from the sunrays and the heat inside the car. Sam didn't make a single noise as well. Even the dull sound of the powerful V8 engine was, in its own way, participating in building this quiet, peaceful atmosphere. Everything was good.

Travelling further in the desert they passed through the remaining of Mojave. They watched silently the batches of concrete that once had been buildings and houses, the inform masses of metal that had been cars and even some white, all-too-familiar shapes that once had been humans. Here and there, plants were making their way outside the rubble. Like everywhere else, there was nothing, only the result of Skynet's almighty and devastating wrath that brought and still held humanity at the edge of extinction.

They stopped on a street and went outside their vehicle. But they were greeted by the horrible dead silence that always covered the cities. Allison shivered. In some ways, this silence was even worse than the metallic footsteps, the rhythmic grindings or the deafening roar that announced the arrival of the enemy. Because at least, you knew it was there.

Carter raised his assault rifle and began to walk slowly. "Get the shotgun." he said in a low voice. She complied and opened the trunk of the car, then seized the weapon. Afterwards, she followed him, walking as silently as she could. But she could tell he was better at this. He hardly made a single noise, like if he knew beforehand what was under his feet. A small voice whispered inside her : _I suppose it's easier for a machine… _

She shook her head, almost horrified by this thought. Since when was he a _machine_ ? He was not some simple assembly of metal and wires, he had a real brain, a real heart… Besides he had a conscience, a _human_ one. _How dare I even think this !_

Suddenly, she saw him stop. She did the same, slowly raising the shotgun. _A machine ?_ She was afraid of this supposition, she could say this, but was also impatient to blow her first metal head to bits. It would mean the end of an era for her, she knew that for sure. She would feel better after that. She would feel _safer_.

"That's a human."

Carter slowly lowered his weapon and began to walk toward the man that had appeared among the rubble. He looked in a bad shape : he was walking in a stumbling pace and was almost as thin as a skeleton.

"How can you be sure it's a human ?" Allison asked. _Maybe he is like him…_

"Because if he was something else, I would've seen it by now."

Suddenly the man wavered. Carter ran to him and caught him a second before he fell.

* * *

As he prevented the old man from falling, Carter scanned him with his sensory, checking his vitals. The result was not exactly reassuring.

Scanning… SUBJECT'S STATE : CRITICAL

INTERNAL HEMORRHAGE DETECTED

DIAGNOSTIC : DECEASE IMMINENT

The man coughed, spitting blood on Carter's combat dress. He opened his mouth and spoke in a weak voice.

"Go… away… they're coming…" He coughed a last time before he jerked and his eyes closed.

VITALS : NEGATIVE

SUBJECT DECEASED

Carter turned the man's body up and saw two bloody holes in his back. Suddenly, Sam began to growl,and a metallic and regular clanking sound began to ring louder and louder. "Oh, shit…"

* * *

Allison walked closer to Carter who was laying the man down. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw the blood flowing down his jaw. "Is he… Is he…"

"Dead ? Yes, unfortunately he is." Carter said, his face darkening. "And there's company coming." He stood up and raised his rifle, then ran behind a car. Allison suddenly understood what kind of "company" he was talking about and quickly followed him.

After a few seconds, she heard the rhythmic _clank-clank-clank_ coming closer at every moment. Two minutes, and the T-633 appeared exactly where the wounded man had come from. It had a silenced submachine gun in its right hand. When it came closer to the dead man, its head tipped to the side as it scanned the body. Slowly, Allison raised her shotgun, aiming for the machine's head, made sure she held the weapon steady, and just as Carter advised her, darted her eyes to her target and relaxed her arms. Then her finger gently squeezed the trigger, until a loud bang half-deafened her and she was thrown backward by the recoil.

Instantly she recovered. She felt adrenaline running in every vein, every muscle, boosting her reflexes. Pumping the SPAS-12, she locked her eyes on the machine.

It was still standing, but almost halt of its head had disappeared. It jerked four times, then fell to the ground.

She stared at it for a moment,weapon still raised, then her body relaxed and she felt her lips slowly curl into a smile as she turned to Carter.

He was looking at the T-633 and was grinning. "Nice shot." he said. "But next time you should warn… I could swear my… audio sensors would explode."

Allison sniggered. She felt proud of herself, although she realized it wasn't as hard as she initially thought. "That was another... uh... armor-piercing bullet, right ?"

"Nah, explosive one. FRAG-12 slug." She stared at the shotgun. _Explosive ? That's nice._ _I think I'm going to like this gun..._

"That's why I told you not to shoot too close, remember ?" Carter said.

"I do, but I don't think I was too close, was I ?"

Carter laughed. "Good one. Seems you won't even need a training..."

12


	13. Chapter 13 : Fast Learner

Carter scanned the surroundings, carefully examining each building and boosting his audio sensory to maximum sensibility. His head slowly swivelled from left to right like if it was mounted on a fixed axis, looking like a surveillance camera. Allison felt a little uncomfortable with that. Because when doing this, he undeniably looked… mechanical. Robotic.

Suddenly a blood-red glow shone in his eyes and she shivered.

"Carter ?" Her voice was filled with worry. _What if… what if he was not completely…_

"Yeah ? What's wrong ?" he said, looking at her. Suddenly his eyes glowed again and she froze.

"Are you… are you okay ?"

"Sure, why ?

"Your… your eyes…"

"My eyes ?"

"They… they just went red and…"

"Ah, yeah. Don't worry, that's normal. My hardware always does that when I'm switching vision modes."

"Your hardware…"

"Well, my circuitry."

"Oh, okay…" Processing the information, she eased up. _It's just part of his… functioning…_ The word was really weird and she felt a pang of guilt. _Again, I'm considering him as a… robot or something. _

From the corner of her eye she saw Carter rise. "Okay, we've got to finish it. Let's go."

After about an hour spent to patrol the area, they found no one else. The Terminator Allison had shot also revealed itself to be a single scouting unit as no other machine showed up. Reassured about that, they went back to the car and went away. There was no need to stay in the surroundings now they knew nothing in here was useful.

As they sped through the rubble, sometimes having to avoid massive batches of concrete blocking a side of the road, they remained silent, but this time, it was a tense silence. Only when they finally got out of the city they sighed in relief.

Allison smiled and rested her head on the headrest. "Wow, I really feel better."

"Yeah ?"

"Well, that's the first time I ever shot a machine. That means something, you know…"

Carter sneered. "Yeah, I know that. That's always… special. Was the same for me, I felt… um, relieved, when I saw its skull shatter. Did you ?"

"Yes. I still do."

"That's good. Means you'll soon be a real fighter. Tough one, see ?"

"I'm not tough…"

"You'll soon be, I can tell."

"How ?"

"You're a fast learner. You don't need anything else."

She looked at him for a moment, saying nothing. She felt content and touched by the compliment. _Even my parents never told me that… Have I changed that much ? _

Her thoughts vanished when she heard a dull growl. _Sam !!!_

Carter had the same reaction. "Dammit ! Hold on !!" And all of a sudden the car when out of the road. There were many bumps, and Allison soon felt like she was inside a shaker. Sam was now barking loudly.

Suddenly the ground seemed to erupt not far from them and the car shook under the blast. Looking at the rear, Allison saw a huge shadow on the ground behind them. _A flying machine ! Oh god, how are we going to get rid of it !? _She heard Crater scream, "Allison! Take the wheel, and drive straight !"

* * *

The Hunter-Killer had spotted the four-wheeled ground vehicle known as a "car" and immediately associated it with humans, as this type of machine was not automated, and therefore had immediately switched in attack mode. It was now following it through the desert. However, it was flying too low and the dust was jamming its targeting sensors, impeding it to shoot straight. Its 25mm Gatling gun was pummelling the ground close behind the car. Suddenly, its motion sensor spotted additional movement. A part of the roof had opened, and a human climbed on it. Immediately, he went to acquire him, but at the time the machine was locking on him, the human jumped. Too high.

* * *

The HK was flying so low Carter landed on top of it, grabbing a protruding mechanism to avoid falling. He spotted a maintenance hatch and hit the locking mechanism. With it the piece of metal flew away, and he had to stoop so it wouldn't decapitate him. Then he crawled to it and went inside.

_Gotcha._

He was facing a huge metal column that went from the "ground" to the "ceiling". Innumerable wires protruded here and there, and some parts of it exhausted a bright orange glow. Immediately, Carter drove his fist in the metal, and ripped a cylinder, which glowed from several orifices. Suddenly, he let out a cry and dropped the cylinder. Ignoring the pain he punched the HK's reactor again, and grabbed another one.

* * *

WARNING

CENTRAL REACTOR DEPLETING

ASSESS DAMAGE…

WARNING : POWER LEVEL DECREASING TO 74%…52%…36%…21%…

…

The machine's HUD suddenly blackened as the human inside of it kept destroying its power core. A few percents less, and the turbofans stopped. The proximity sensors didn't even have enough power to transmit an alert as it landed hardly on the ground. The impact crushed the remaining sensory, and the HK's primitive conscience vanished into nothing a millisecond after.

* * *

In the rear-view mirror, Allison saw the huge machine crash behind the car, and fear came to her mind. _Carter, no !_

Instinctively she slammed on the brakes and went out of the car, running toward the inert metallic mass. Nothing moved. In a panicked voice she cried out, "Carter ! Carter !!"

"I'm okay !"

Hearing this she turned her head… and saw him climb out of the machine's hull.

A big sigh of relief escaped her mouth, and she ran to him. But, as she came closer, her eyes widened and she looked at his right hand in horror.

A large portion of the skin was totally burnt, exposing the metallic bones and the mechanical articulations of his fingers.

Noticing her expression, he stared down. "Oh, don't worry. I can still use it. Besides, the skin will regenerate in a few days."

_Regenerate !?_ She looked at him in awe. He was smiling. "That's one advantage of Skynet going Frankenstein on you."

She couldn't help but chuckle. Though, it made her nervous, like the other times he had displayed a machine-like behaviour. _How can he be that casual about that ? He burnt himself to a point no one else would bear ! _She felt a bit uneasy as he flexed his metal fingers, which whirred softly.

"Okay," he concluded, "no need to stay here anymore. Let's go !" With this last sentence he walked to the car. Allison stood here, watching him. She knew it was a part of him, but it still felt a bit strange. Shaking her head she thought, _Come on, you're not going to despise him just because of that ! His body's not a human's one, so what ? That's what's inside that counts, girlie ! If you don't integrate that, then you'd better shoot yourself right now !_ She rolled her eyes, then rejoined him.

They sped away from the crashed HK as fast as possible, and after two hours in the desert found a village. Stopping at a distance, Carter seized the sniper rifle and started to carefully inspect it house by house. Noticing nothing, they went back in the Dodge and entered in it.

Like in Mojave, everything was silent. Plants had already recovered several houses, others were collapsed, only five of them could still be habitable.

Allison was inspecting one of them, shotgun raised. As she just went upstairs, something caught her attention. Something dark, on the floor. It looked like something had leaked here and later solidified, and seemingly came from behind the door that was right next to the stairs. The lock was broken, so she kicked the door open, came in… and, letting out a horrified yelp, backed away immediately, her face distorted with disgust and horror.

The corpse of a very old woman was resting on a chair against the wall. Her chest was nothing more than a gruesome mess of flesh and bones and blood had spattered on her legs and the ground. Fragments of ribs and flesh were scattered on the ground, among of what laid what once was beating under her ribcage, letting life flow in every muscle, every limb of hers. What once was her heart.

Allison closed violently the door and threw up.

* * *

Hearing the noise, Carter climbed the stairs in a second. "What is it ?" She pointed to the floor and, looking down, he saw the dried blood. _Shit…_ He didn't open the door. In fact, he didn't even want to know what was inside. Guessing it was enough. "Okay, won't make any good to think about that too long. Come on, let's get out of here." Nodding, Allison followed him downstairs, walking with the pace of a groggy boxer. They went out of the house and, after making sure the next one was clear, even from dead bodies, Carter told Allison : "This one's okay. I'll bring the car here. You should take some time to recover, I'll be back in a few minutes.

"Yes… thank you."

She sat on the floor of the kitchen and Carter went out, heading for the car. He was worried. He ignored what she had seen but he was afraid it could have affected her too deeply. He needed to know, so he walked in the house where it happened, climbed upstairs and opened the door under which the dried blood had leaked. Immediately his eyes widened. "Oh, fuck !" he whispered. Now he understood the intensity of her reaction. Even in this time of war, where people were slaughtered everyday, such a savagery was rare.

Closing it, he returned outside. His worry was now becoming real concern. _Will she resist to that ? She can be tough, but… what if it's too much ?_ He didn't want her to lose her sanity because of that.

_Hold on, little sister… You're not alone._

* * *

Allison wiped her tears and tried to stop. _I mustn't cry… this era is over, I mustn't cry… I must be tough… I MUST BE STRONG !!"_

But she couldn't help but sob uncontrollably. Then she heard the door creak and Carter's footsteps. She saw him, in the corner of her eye, crouching next to her, and felt his comforting arm around her.

Suddenly she broke up and released everything, the fear, disgust and grief in an inarticulate, desperate yell.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH !!!"

Then she cowered against him, bursting into tears. _Why, why do I always end up like that…_

Again, he hugged her affectionately, remaining silent as she cried over her family and everything she lost, over this poor old woman, over all the dead. Over the world.

They stood here, sitting on the cold ground, unmoving, until she slowly regained her composure.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I… I'm always coming to this… always…"

"Don't mind, that's normal. You don't need always to be stern, you know. This is war, I can understand that kind of reaction."

"But you told me I could be tough ! I want to be tough… I want to be strong !"

"Being strong doesn't mean you always have to hide your emotions."

"You never cry…"

"I did, when I experienced those things for the first time. Plus, everyone has a different way to react to such things. And sometimes crying can do some good."

She looked up at him. His gaze was soft and calm. Like always. She smiled weakly. "You always find the words, don't you ?"

He grinned back. "Oh, you know… you just have to look around."

She kept staring in his eyes for a moment, then slowly raised a hand and caressed his jaw with her fingertips. He didn't move, but his stare became inquisitive. Yet he never broke eye contact, neither did he move his head. They held each other's gaze, in a silent, visual dialogue.

She progressively came closer to him, and he didn't move. Closer, he didn't move. He didn't move even when her mouth met his for a second.

"I guess I'm no more a big brother now…" he said in a whisper.

She didn't say a word in response. Instead, she closed her eyes and pulled him into a longer, tender kiss.

She broke off, and stared at him. His gaze was affectionate, though a little surprised. His astonishment seemed to grow as she put one hand around his metal fingers and brought them to her cheek. It was cold and hard, but she didn't care. She knew it was part of him, and had less and less trouble dealing with him as the time passed.

After a few long, very long seconds, she released her grip and buried her head in his chest once again. "Thank you." she muttered. She didn't know what he was feeling right now, how he could interpret what she just did. All she knew was that he was right. He was not just a big brother anymore. He was more than that. No matter what was under his skin. Bones… metal… as long as he had a soul, it did not matter.

13


	14. Chapter 14 : No Blame

Allison woke with a start. Despite what she had seen the other day, she had no nightmare. But this morning, Carter had disappeared. Her shotgun was still here, but everything else was gone. She picked the weapon and silently headed outside. Nothing. Concerned, she called out.

"Carter ?"

Suddenly, the loud roar of an engine rang. She jumped, aimed the SPAS-12 in the direction of the sound… and sighed in relief. It was just the car. The driver's door was opened and she distinguished a figure behind the wheel. After a few growls, the engine stopped and Carter stepped out. He noticed her and smiled. "Hey. You slept well ?"

"Yes. Did you ?"

"Yeah. I just went around and I found a gas station not far from here and there was still petrol in it, so I filled the tank and also the jerrycan. This car drinks like a fish, it was time I did it."

"Like Sam eats ?"

Carter laughed. "Yeah, you could say that. Sorry for the wake, by the way."

"Oh, no problem. I'm still alive, so, I'll get over !"

"Hey, you're quite inspired this morning !"

"Well, I never slept that well."

"Good to know…"

Allison went in the old garage where the Charger was. "What about the food ?" she asked.

"Well, for now we have enough supply for about one week, I found a few other cans we could still use here and there."

"Okay…" She stood here as he gathered the radio and other things, and sighed. She still had in mind what happened in the house yesterday, and she blushed a little. _He seems to get along… But… what can he be thinking about me right now ?_

"I'm sorry…" she said, in a small voice.

"Why ?"

"Uh… well, for… um… for the other day, you know…"

"Oh, that…" He turned to her and smiled softly. "Don't worry about that. You just wanted to find a way to… to tell me something, to… make me understand your feelings, that's all. I don't blame you for that."

"Um… thank you…" She looked away, getting more and more embarrassed.

She heard him chuckle just before he spoke again. "C'mon, there's no reason you get uncomfortable with that. No reason at all."

Timidly, she turned her head to stare at him, yet she didn't dare to look in his eyes. So she focused on his forehead, trying to ignore his stare. Which she found was one of the most difficult things she ever had to do. _The forehead, the forehead, the forehead…_ she kept telling herself, until she felt him place his hand on her shoulder. _Oh, no…_

Too late. Losing her concentration, she looked down a little. A few centimetres, but it was enough. She got caught by his gaze, a bit like a rodent would get trapped by the eyes of a snake. Suddenly, she felt her body heating up, and had to struggle violently with herself to resist the urge to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him again.

His voice rang, but it seemed distant to her. "I understand, you know. I see it in your eyes, right now. I just don't know if I can… manage it. I just need to think about it, right ?"

She felt her head nod, but it was like she was a stranger to herself. Like if this body was not hers. That was the strangest impression she ever felt. She was trapped by her own brain, and couldn't do anything against it.

Fortunately, he finally let go of her and went back to the equipment he was packing in the car.

She let out a long, long sigh and stood here, incapable to move an eyebrow. Her entire body was shaking, and when she regained control of herself, it took some time for her to figure out where and when they were.

* * *

Carter put the radio in its container and put it in the back seat, along with a box of 5.56mm ammunition and another filled with 40mm HE grenades. While he was doing this, his mind wandered. He was confused.

When she had lowered her eyes and locked on his, her stare was so intense he could almost feel it, like if his skin would burn. And he had also seen her trembling. He knew what had triggered this. He understood it would be harder and harder for her to hide it and to control it. This burning, passionate, overwhelming love he had seen in her big brown eyes.

Himself didn't exactly know the nature of his own feelings toward her. Was she still the little sister, or had she become more than that ? _I can't tell. Damn, I really need to think about it…_

* * *

After Carter finished loading the newly acquired supplies and the equipment in the trunk, he brought two cans of food and spoons. They ate quite fast.

"Um… what about Sam ?" Allison asked.

"He ate already. I didn't wait for you to see the show… sorry."

She grinned. "I'll make you pay for this."

"Oh, my God, no !" he said in a falsetto, covering his face with his arms.

She let out a laughter and lowered her head. "You idiot."

"And that was just a beginning."

"It's precisely what I feared."

"Yeah, I always have that effect on other people."

"Not only that one."

He looked at her. "I've figured that out." He said in a more serious tone.

Suddenly she felt embarrassment grow inside of her again.

"Look, I didn't want to…"

"I know. Just relax, I'm not that susceptive."

"That's fortunate…"

He burst out laughing and she felt a bit relieved. She hadn't expected the conversation to become that serious, and that really began making her uncomfortable. Apparently he understood the problem. She silently thanked him for this.

Dropping his empty can, he rose up and said, "Okay, maybe we should think about going now. Are you still hungry ?"

"Uh, no, it's okay." she said, getting on her feet.

"Fine, then if you don't mind, we'll go right now. I'm not exactly fond of this place."

For one second, the image of the literally heartless old woman flashed in her mind.

"Neither am I…"

With those words, she headed for the right side of the car and opened the front door. Carter stared at her and nodded.

"Copy you, loud and clear." he said. "Let's get out of here."

14


	15. Chapter 15 : A Warrior Raises

"Grrrrr…"

The noise had about the same effect as an artillery shell on them. Sam was staring outside and had stiffened. Carter's eyes grew wide.

"Oh no, not now !"

Seizing his M4 rifle, he ran to the bottom wall. Allison had also seized her own weapon before joining him. Sam was the last one to come.

Suddenly an explosion rang, followed by a loud, regular and metallic thumping sound. Both humans went stiff and readied their guns.

* * *

SCANNING…

TARGETS DETECTED : 0.

RESUME SEARCHING

TARGETING CONSTRUCTION…

TARGET DESTROYED

SCANNING…

TARGETS DETECTED : 0.

RESUME SEARCHING

TARGETING CONSTRUCTION…

* * *

"DOWN !!"

Carter pushed Allison to the ground and threw himself on her, protecting her with his own body as an entire half of the garage exploded. The sound was so loud it sent a wave of pain in her ears, and suddenly she heard nothing. Nothing, but a high-pitched, continuous whistle. And the pain was still here.

Panic rushed through her in a second. _No !! I am deaf… Am I deaf ? Oh, my God…_

She felt being pulled back on her feet and away from the now destroyed wall. Staring briefly back, she saw a dark, armless, massive bipedal shape that was heading right on them.

_Always coming at the wrong time… I HATE THEM !!_

* * *

SCANNING…

TARGETS DETECTED : 2.

ACTIVATE SECONDARY WEAPON

LOCKING TARGETS…

* * *

Carter dragged Allison behind a wall a fraction of a second before the ground was riddled with heavy-caliber bullets. Another moment, and they had to flee as the machine aimed for the piece of concrete they were hiding behind. The burst went through the wall, sending dust and debris flying everywhere.

Suddenly, Carter threw himself down and shot back with the grenade launcher, aiming for the chest. The ground Hunter-Killer disappeared behind flames and black smoke, and for an instant everything went still.

Allison heard the whistle in her ears slowly fade, in time to hear Carter exclaim : "C'mon, no need to see the result !"

He was right. Suddenly an antipersonnel rocket flew toward them, and again, his superhuman reflexes saved them both. The projectile missed them and impacted far behind. Looking up they saw the HK walking out of the smoke. Intact.

Screaming in rage, the young girl fired her shotgun twice on the machine, with no visible result. It kept walking forward.

"Dammit, c'mon !!" Carter dragged her aside and ran.

A ferocious barking erupted behind them, and they turned back.

"Sam ! NO !!"

The dog had jumped on the "back" of the large humanoid shape and was now gripping a large wire with his teeth, trying to rip it. But it was too hard. His claws were slipping against the armor, making a displeasing grinding noise. The attack was inefficient, but it had at least one positive effect. The sensors of the machine were now locked on the animal. Its shoulder-based machine gun was swivelling, trying to reach him, but he was too low.

Allison saw the occasion, and ran as fast as she could… right toward the HK, zigzagging to avoid being properly targeted. The fear had been replaced by an overwhelming fury, sending adrenaline in every inch of her body. Nothing was more important to her than to smash this damn thing into scrap. And it was still trying to get rid of Sam. It was now or never. Reaching it within seconds, she noticed a tiny vulnerable area where the abdomen was linked to the chest. Inserting the barrel of the SPAS-12 between the armor plates, she unloaded the whole magazine inside the machine, yelling : "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE !!"

The sound of metal shattering and the sparks spraying out of the vulnerable area were particularly pleasing to her. And when it collapsed, the red glow in its four "eyes" dimming until vanishing, she felt a ferocious satisfaction well in her head. A mischievous smile came to her mouth, then she bent down as Sam, who had jumped away when the metal fell, came to her. She stroked him affectionately, letting him lick her neck. "Well done, Sammy boy", she said softly.

"That was… audacious."

Turning back, she saw Carter looking at her with a mix of admiration and relief. "I thought you'd get shredded." he added.

Again, she smiled. "Well, it's not for today."

He chuckled. "I can see that. You took a huge risk, however."

"I know… but I couldn't let this thing follow us all the way along."

"Which was a good initiative. But… just don't do that too often, okay ? You scared the shit outta me."

All of a sudden she felt warmth grow inside her body. "Okay."

"Promise. Next time you do it, I get a heart attack."

She laughed lightly and looked up to him. "Promise."

He sighed, then stared at the garage.. "Damn… the car !"

Realizing what he was talking about, she leaped on her feet. The construction was half-demolished. A part of the roof had just collapsed, and the wall behind which they hid before running away was no more there.

Together, they ran to it, and began removing the debris. Carter, thanks to his robot strength, was more efficient, and soon they could see the vehicle.

It was covered with dust and concrete, the roof was slightly damaged and the right windows were completely shattered, but all in all, the damage was superficial. Fortunately, the rocket launched by the machine had hit the wall of the garage and the blast had not been strong enough to destroy the Dodge.

They sighed in unison, then looked at each other and burst out laughing. It could have ended much worse…

15


	16. Chapter 16 : Two Warriors Unite

"Okay, the engine's intact, everything seems to work. We're lucky !"

Allison nodded with a smile while reloading her shotgun. "Yes. We're also talented."

Carter stifled a laugh. "Talented ?"

"Sure."

"Hm, _you_ are talented. After all, _you_ destroyed the goddamn thing."

"Without you, I'd be dead. And then I wouldn't have destroyed… the goddamn thing."

"Hmm. Makes sense."

"And without Sam, I couldn't have got so close from it."

"Okay. _We_'re talented."

"Yes, we are."

"Okay. I give up, you've won."

She chuckled, Carter rolled his eyes and checked the steering. "That works as well, everything's good."

"Then maybe we shouldn't stay here."

"Aye aye, ma'am."

After closing the passenger's door behind Sam, Carter climbed in and ignited the engine. Allison got in the front seat with her weapon, closed the door, and the Charger SRT8 leaped forward, leaving a cloud of dust in the former-garage. After a few minutes the village was out of sight. Allison looked at Carter. He was frowning and seemed preoccupied. Noticing her stare, he said : "I don't get it. I mean, this machine we've seen, it was blowing up every building it saw. Like if it knew someone was in the village, and was trying to break his cover."

"But how could it have known ?"

"Dunno. But machines that are on patrol mode don't need to do that. It'd be a waste of ammunition. That's odd."

"Then…"

"I don't know. Maybe… Fuck !!"

A metallic sound rang, and the engine stopped in a second. Looking forward, Allison saw something that looked like a metallic snake, of about one meter long. Two spikes protruding from its "head" were jabbed in the hood, and were emitting electric discharges through the metallic surface. Instantly, Carter caught his rifle and fired four shots in the small machine through the windscreen, decapitating it. The V8 roared back to life, and the car sped.

Allison had been pretty shaken, and her voice was more acute than she wanted when she asked, "What was that !?"

"Cobra. The electric discharges it emits can kill in a few seconds. That one tried to immobilize us. They're often used as scouts."

"Maybe it's one of them that spotted us in the village."

"Yeah, maybe. I just hope…" He didn't finish his sentence. Allison saw something jumping right to her face, then something pierced her cheek and a jolt of unbearable pain skimmed in her whole body. She let out an ear-piercing scream as 100 000 volts of electricity were released inside her. She felt herself slip into darkness, the burning sensation faded, and everything went black.

* * *

"NO !!"

Reacting instantly, Carter clutched the Cobra and pulled it away before tearing it in half with his bare hands. Then he threw himself on the second one and crushed its "head" with a punch. Throwing it away, he grabbed the wheel and slammed on the gas pedal. Then he seized his carbine and readied it. If another one was to come, he would blast it before it could even land. A mix of cold anger and fear was running in him. He had to go to a safe place before any other machine could spot them, and hope Allison had resisted. He knew she wasn't physically weak, but the discharge may have damaged her brain, he knew that. Maybe she was already dead.

He shook his head violently. _Don't even think about it ! She's tough, she'll survive ! You promised you'd protect her, remember ? _

He drove as fast as he could, ignoring the bumps that sometimes shook the car. He had to do something. And he would. Whatever it could cost to him.

After a few minutes, he hadn't seen any shelter, and he became more and more worried. _Will I have to do it in bright daylight ? … _He threw his head back in the headrest. _Then yes, I will ! Fuck the machines, I'll do anything !! Anywhere, I don't give a damn ! I MUST help her !_

Suddenly, he spotted a construction and headed right toward it.

The car halted with a screech inside a small garage. Carter ran inside what revealed itself to be a house, holding her on his shoulder, and the M4 in his right hand. Much to his relief, the house was empty. Laying the young girl down on a bed, he checked her pulse and her breathing, like he did the first day he met her. He felt her heart beating and her regular breath.

He let out a long sigh. _Thank God, at least she's alive. _

* * *

As she slowly opened her eyes, her vision was blurry, in fact she didn't see anything except colors. Her head ached atrociously and her ears were ringing. Something rang, but she couldn't even tell what it was. It sounded like a brief, vague rumor. Hours seemed to pass before she could see the anguished face that was staring at her. As she recognized him, her mouth curled into a small smile. "Carter…" She didn't even have the strength to speak loudly, it was barely a whisper.

She laboriously raised a hand and placed it on his cheek. When he covered it with his own palm, despite her numbness, she felt this particular warmth, and her relief was gradually replaced with content.

"It was one of them, wasn't it ?"

"Yeah. It didn't stay long."

"I'm sure."

Slowly her strength came back as she felt less and less numb. She sat up, and instantly he pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged him back, relieved, content, and thankful.

Suddenly, she felt one of his hands leaving her back and beginning to hesitantly stroke her hair. The joy running through her became astonishment, as he never did that before. It was new and, despite being quite pleasant, surprising.

"Carter ?"

"I need to ask you a question."

His voice was low, but serious.

"What ?"

"Do you… do you love me ?"

For one instant, she thought her ears had betrayed her. But when she realized, she could only stay there, in his arms, speechless. _Did he really ask… if I…_

"I... don't understand…"

"Yes you do. Don't make me repeat." he said a bit softer.

Suddenly it hit her like a Shinkansen train. _Damn me, he… he can't be…_

"Yes…"

Right as the word left her mouth, Carter pulled apart and plunged his grey eyes in hers. The next four words rang as loud as gunshots, though he was murmuring.

"I love you too."

_Oh, my God. He can. He is._

She tried to move, but her limbs were paralysed. She tried to speak, but it never left her throat. She wasn't even breathing. The world blackened, leaving only his face to look at. She felt the dam of reason break down and collapse under a surge of pure emotion and desire. He did not move an inch when she frankly caressed his cheek, did not back when she imprisoned his head between both her hands and kissed him.

Minutes became days, hours became years. Every notion of place and time vanished, and they were here, in this space where nothing else than them mattered, floating freely in the middle of a universe. She felt him pull her closer and kiss her back after a few centuries, and a supernova exploded, flooding everything with bright white light. She felt like being born again.

After millennia, they slowly pulled apart, their faces remaining less than an inch close from each other. Their foreheads were touching, and he was still caressing her hair with an unbelievable softness.

Her voice was almost inaudible when she teased, "It seems you have ended thinking about it."

He smiled and answered: "Yes, I have. The circumstances have helped as well."

"How so ?"

"It's easier. To figure out what you feel for someone when you're scared for this person."

Hearing this she thought, _I never though I could owe something to a machine one day…_

16


	17. Chapter 17 : Escape

Suddenly, they heard the entrance door creak and slam, and a few seconds later, footsteps. No mistake possible. Someone, or something, was in the house.

Carter abruptly pulled apart, grabbed his rifle and ran to the room's door with almost no noise, then silently notified Allison to keep quiet, which she acknowledged by nodding her head.

They heard the intruder climb the stairs, and Carter could tell it was not the way a machine walk would sound like. Too irregular, not heavy enough. Probably a human. He toggled a mental switch, and his vision changed radically. Everything was now colored in different shades of blue or sometimes green, except the red-orange humanoid shape that was coming their way in the corridor. He knew that a cybernetic Infiltrator, like himself, would have a lightly different thermal signature. A little bit colder. He relaxed a bit, though he stayed on guard. Sometimes even humans can reveal themselves dangerous, he knew that too much. And he didn't worry for him. After all, _he_ was the cyborg here.

At this moment, his cybernetically enhanced hearing detected another sound. It was much lower, but anyway audible. It sounded like… like a combustion engine. And it was coming closer, fastly. The human in the corridor groaned. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, not right now !"

And all of a sudden it all clicked into place. This guy was just looking for a shelter. And the incoming vehicle was announcing trouble. Maybe big trouble.

He opened the door and stepped in the corridor. "Hey !"

The man turned around and his face went pale. Carter took a reassuring tone and said. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you. We're here because we needed a shelter. Seems you do as well."

The man recovered quickly and stared at him. He was quite squat, about 5 feet tall; he had grey hair and a beard. His blue eyes were scanning Carter with an unsettled glance. Then he said with a hoarse voice, "Uh, well, yeah, I do ! Fuckin' Marauders are coming for me !"

"Marauders… Damn." Turning back to the bedroom, Carter saw Allison stepping out, a look of worry over her face. "What's happening ?"

* * *

"We got raiders approaching ! Take that !" he said, handing her his carbine.

She complied, and was surprised by the weight of the weapon. It was even heavier than her shotgun. She did not complain though. It wasn't exactly the time, and she knew he could fight without a gun, which was more difficult for her. She went behind him as he cocked his sidearm, a Glock 31C with a standard 15-round magazine.

The vehicle coming outside halted right in front of the house. Allison gulped and whispered : "By raiders , you mean human ones ?"

"Yes", Carter answered in the same tone.

The door was burst open, a shotgun was racked and heavy footsteps rang in the house. "He's in there ! Let's go get him !" The voice was loud and gravelly, and also devoid from any trace of mercy. This made Allison shiver lightly. Whoever those men were, they weren't here for fun. They would kill the man as soon as they would find him. From the corner of her eye, she saw him slip in the bedroom, his face distorted with fear. Carter silently headed for the stairs, his gun ready. As she followed him quietly, she heard a man climb the stairs and froze. Carter moved forward swiftly and fired his gun once. Then the sound of a body falling down rang, and the loud voice shouted, "What the fuck ?!... Who's shooting ?"

* * *

Scanning…

TARGET DECEASED

Carter did not wait a second once the diagnostic scrolled in his HUD. He jumped down the stairs, landed flexibly and fired another time before his next target, a big guy with an AK-74 rifle, had even the time to realize what was happening.

The .357 SIG bullet went through his right temple, travelling to the left side of the head before coming out, sending blood and brains splattering over the wall that was right behind him. He collapsed graceless, like a ragdoll, and his weapon clattered to the floor. Rapidly, Carter jumped again on the table as the second man fired a Mossberg 590 right where he was a millisecond ago. It was like time was slowing down, and his opponent seemed to be moving in slow-motion. A red reticle appeared in his HUD as his computerized targeting system locked on this new target. He shot the guy in the chest, reaching his lungs, and finished him by puncturing his heart right before he bent down and fell.

Suddenly, an automatic weapon began to crackle behind the cyborg like a jackhammer, and a sudden pain occurred in his left shoulder. He threw himself forward, seized the still-twitching body of the man with the shotgun and lifted it, using the corpse as a shield. Then, he pushed it forward with all his strength, sending it toward the newcomer who was forced to step aside, and lunged to him. He then grabbed the guy's Uzi submachine gun, and the next burst pummelled the ceiling with 9mm lead. When it finally clicked empty, the raider was crumpling to the ground, his ribcage smashed, spitting blood. Carter rose back on his feet and kicked him right in the forehead. His eyes rolled back, and he froze.

"RAAAAH !!"

Carter spun, in time to see another guy raising a Colt Model 639. Instantly, he lifted his own gun. A little too late.

* * *

As the gunshots ceased, Allison tip-toed toward the stairs, Carter's rifle in hand. She didn't know who won the fight, though she had an idea, and she was scared that she could be wrong.

A wet coughing sound rang, and she jumped. _Oh, what will I do if…_

Carefully, very carefully, she looked down.

The room was filled with the bodies of three armed men, only one was still standing up. In a second she recognized his combat dress and his unmistakable blond hair, and stifled a cry of joy. She watched him kick the last guy, who was agonizing, and suddenly realized that he had been acting like a machine again. It had been too brief. No human could do that in such a small amount of time or such a precision. And it was still disturbing. She still felt uneasy with that. Because it was like the Terminator inside him wasn't completely gone. The metal in itself didn't disturb her - after all, before the war humans sometimes had prosthetics - but the killing machine which she didn't know the name, this cold, unstoppable and deadly thing was still a part of his mind. She knew it would be difficult for her to deal with it.

She turned to the left... and her thoughts vanished in in a millisecond as she saw the last raider freeze in the entrance, she saw his short-barrelled carbine, and reacted in a second. Her relief morphed into a cold determination, as huge as a mountain, as sharp as a blade. _Oh, no, you're not taking him away from me !!_ As the guy roared in pure fury, she took aim and pulled the trigger. The M4 almost bounced in her hands and a blinding flash escaped the muzzle. She almost dropped the rifle due to the recoil, but held her grip, and as she stopped firing, she saw the guy falling back, his torso riddled with bullets.

Looking back to Carter, she noticed he was staring at her. He grinned and lowered his weapon. "Wow, you're making progress !"

Allison went down the stairs and replied. "I've got a good teacher."

"Hey, I never taught you to shoot this ! And not _like_ this !"

She smiled warmly. "I'm glad that you didn't get shot."

He spun around, showing her his bloodied shoulder. "I did..." he gave her a reassuring smirk before resuming, "... but it's no critical, and nothing's broken. It's no worse than my hand." He walked to her and put both his hands on her shoulders. And he smiled back. "Don't worry. I won't die from this." She stared in his grey, _loving _eyes and relaxed. It was an impressive wound, but a small one. She was certain of that now, though it was still odd to see him walk around calmly with a wound that would have made any human scream in pain. The -weirdly- good side of it was that thanks to this, he could protect her and himself from things ordinary humans couldn't stand. And that was _definitely_ a good thing. She sighed in relief and came closer...

"Uhh… what a mess… are they all… gone ?"

Allison and Carter looked up in unison to see the squat man slowly coming down the stairs.

"Well, for now, they are." Carter answered.

Relief crossed the guy's face. "Thank ya so much, man. Motherfuckers wanted me alive, wanted to… torture me…"

"Why ?"

"Uh, 'cause they thought I was responsible for… killing one o'them."

"Okay… it seems you'll have even more problems… there's not only one dead."

"Yeah, well… not like you had a choice, eh ?"

"Sure, but you're gonna be in the shit for good now."

"Maybe, but hey, I won't bother ya with _my_ problems. Wouldn't be fair."

"Do you mean we should leave you here ?"

"Nah, what I mean is that, now, I got an escape…"

"What ?..."

The man bent down and seized a revolver that was tucked one of the raider's belt. Then he cocked the hammer back… and placed it on his temple. "Sorry man…"

Carter's eyes went wide, and he leaped forward. "No !!"

BANG !!

Allison closed her eyes as the gun went off, blasting a large hole in the man's head. She heard him collapse.

"Goddammit !!"

As she opened them, she saw Carter bending down on the guy and closing his eyes. After a short moment he rose up and said, in an almost solemn tone : "We have to bury him."

17


	18. Chapter 18 : Nemrod

After finding shovels in the garage, Carter went back in the house, and lifted the dead guy's body before carrying him outside. Carefully, he lied him down on the ground. As he did so, a small noise rang, like if something had fallen from his pockets. Hearing the noise, he carefully examined the ground next to the corpse. Soon he found it. A small metal object, about the size of a matchbox, with a screen and two square buttons.

Instantly, his eyes widened, and he seized it like if it was an armed landmine. "Damn…" Then he closed his fingers around it, and made a fist of them. A metallic crack rang, and he dropped the small object, which was now completely crushed. "He fooled us all !!"

Allison's voice rang behind him. "What is that ?"

The answer fell like an axe's edge. "Skynet transmitter. This guy was working for the machines."

* * *

"WHAT !?" She backed, looking like if something extremely heavy had just fallen on her head. Trying to regain her composure she asked, "But… how could he do that ? He's a human, why would he choose…"

"I think he didn't choose. Brainwash, probably. Skynet sometimes does that with prisoners in his work camps."

"Why ?"

"Because human agents can go where Terminators can't. They can be spies, saboteurs… That may explain why he killed himself. To free himself from Skynet's control."

Allison looked at the man, a mix of disgust and pity on her face. "And that would also explain why they were looking for him…" she said softly.

"Yeah, probably."

All of a sudden, she saw Carter freeze. His head swivelled and he stared at the desert. Allison instantly tensed. She knew his senses were superior to hers, and that meant he had probably heard something. She didn't like that. Reflexively, her hands tightened on the rifle she was wearing.

"What is it ?"

"Another car coming."

With those words he grabbed the shovels and ran to the garage. She did the same, and a few moments later, an armoured HMMWV with a Browning M2 machine gun on its roof and a turret shield, stopped behind the raider's Chevrolet Tahoe. The doors opened, and four men with bulletproof vests, military fatigues and automatic weapons walked to the corpse that was still here, lying on the ground. One of them bent over the body, then rose again and said, "Shit, he's dead."

"What ?! Damn idiots just shot him ?!"

"So it seems."

"Goddamn, what the hell did they have in mind ? An what's the chief gonna say !?"

"I'd rather never know…"

While they were talking, Carter had silently reached for the car's trunk and brought the M82A3 heavy rifle. He aimed carefully for one man, the barrel of the rifle following every of his movements.

"Oh, fuck !" One of the raiders had just opened the house's door. Allison tensed, her knuckles turning white as she tightened her grip on her own weapon. She knew it was a matter of dozens of second, maybe less.

"What ?" another man asked in an exasperated tone.

"They're dead too…"

"What ?!"

Silence…

"There's someone else around !"

Allison felt Carter's hand tapping her shoulder. She looked at him, and he pointed to the huge rifle he was holding. She understood in an instant, and covered her ears, a short while before he pulled the trigger.

The shot was so loud she felt like her head was ringing from the inside. But she clearly saw one of the raiders being lightly thrown backward as a geyser of blood splashed from the point where the bullet went out. The others turned to the garage, but before they had time to react, Carter had fired twice more, killing two other men in the process. The last guy, the one that was next to the door, ran to the HMMWV, but a fourth bullet ripped off his right knee, scattering white fragments and a red fountain on his left leg. He collapsed, crying out in pain, both his arms gripping his wounded leg. Immediately Carter put the Barrett on the car's hood and ran to him. Kneeling down, he grabbed the man by his throat and lifted his head until he could see him.

"Who sent you ?" he said with a menacing tone.

The man stared at him, and spat at his face in response. "Fuck yourself, I'll say nothing."

* * *

Carter didn't try to wipe out the man's saliva from his face. That didn't matter. This guy was a raider like the others, and he deserved what was happening to him. Yet he wanted to know. So he activated his eyes' diodes independently of his sensors, causing his iris to glow a sinister blood-red light. The guy yelped and tried to back away, but with his wound, he couldn't get anywhere. He was shaking, breathing heavily and his eyes were filled with fear. "Who sent you ?" Carter repeated, with the same tone.

This time, the bandit complied, holding back pained sobs. "N… N… Nemrod."

"Who is Nemrod ?"

"He's our chief, I… I don't know him !"

"Why did you want this man ?" he asked, pointing to the Skynet agent's body.

"Cause he… he betrayed us !"

"In which way ?"

"He worked for… he worked for your kind, for Skynet !!"

"I know that. Where is Nemrod ?"

This time the man looked away, covering his mouth with one hand.

"Where is he ?" Carter repeated. His voice was becoming colder and colder as he spoke. He looked right in the man's eyes, wiping any emotion out of his head. He didn't want his eyes to betray anything. He wanted the guy to see him as what he passed for. A ruthless, emotionless killing machine.

The guy trembled more violently, still trying to keep control. Carter gripped his chin and forced him to look up. "Where is he ?"

Tears spilled from the raider's eyes. Suddenly he broke up "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT !! He… He's… He's in California City." As he spoke, Carter reached for the man's neck, checking his heartbeat, breathing and dermal temperature. Simultaneously, he stared at his eyes, evaluating his pupils. Then, overlapping the two streams of data with the bandit's vocal samples, he came to a clear conclusion. The guy was not lying. And he didn't ask for more.

Despite the pain, the powerless raider forced a ferocious grin. "You'll never reach him. He's got an army with him."

Carter responded blankly, "We do as well." Then he snapped his neck and released his grip.

18


	19. Chapter 19 : The attack

As Carter stood up, he stared at Allison who was standing beside him. "D'you know something about this guy, Nemrod ?"

"No", she answered. "I never knew a Nemrod, and I never encountered raiders."

"Okay… well, I don't know why he's so pissed off with the spy, but I can guess. Whether he's been attacked by machines which shouldn't have been there, or someone in his gang discovered what the spy was doing."

"But… we don't care about this, do we ?"

"Nah, we don't. I just think we should remind of the Nemrod guy. 'Cause he's not very far, and we don't know where he could move. Worse, we don't know how _nice_ he can be with strangers."

"Which means we have to go now."

"Correct. Prepare the car, I'll go get what we left inside."

"Okay."

Allison ran to the garage, put the shovels back in place and closed the trunk which was still open. When Carter came back, he put the rest of the things at the back seat and climbed onboard. Soon they were away.

They found a road that seemed to lead to the mountains and Carter followed it. The desert was still empty and, though the sun was high in the sky, it wasn't very warm. The temperature had lowered a bit and huge dark clouds were gathering upon the mountains which could now be seen, making the landscape look more sinister. It was like they were heading to hell's entrance. Allison shivered.

When they reached the first foothills of the mountains, they saw the road was leading to a village a few miles away. Carter slowed down, reducing the noise of the engine, then, when the village was in sight, went off the road and stopped the car. He stepped outside, picked the sniper rifle and binoculars. Allison followed, and they began to carefully examine the village. Suddenly, Carter froze, his mouth opening in amazement. "Damn me, there are people here !" he said.

"What !?"

"See by yourself." He handed her the binoculars.

She turned them to the houses and gasped in astonishment. Carter was right. Men and women, were walking here and there, chatting, kids were playing… they lived like if the war, the invasion of the machines, nothing had happened. Though, she could see some of the men were armed with assault rifles.

"That's… incredible. But what if the machines came ?"

"They probably have sentinels somewhere. And it seems the machines aren't coming there very often. Look, the houses are intact. This village, it was never attacked. Metal probably never came."

She stared at him, he was smiling. "We should get closer."

By foot, they stepped down the hill to the small valley where the village was. On the descent there was a small forest which they went across. They both crouched behind a bush when coming in sight of the village. They could clearly see the people now, they were so close they could shout to them without being unnoticed. Allison grinned at the sight of two little children chasing each other and laughing.

Suddenly, a deafening deflagration went off and they saw one of the houses explode. Smoke and debris were thrown high in the air as people screamed and stared.

Some of them ran away, and suddenly a whistle rang before another burst of flames and smoke erupted in the middle of the village. And another.

"Machines !?", Allison asked in a panicked voice.

"Don't think so", Carter answered darkly. "Machines don't use mortars or artillery."

Another shell exploded closer and another house was reduced into small debris of wood and stone. Allison saw someone being thrown backward by the blast. One of his legs was missing.

Other people were lying on the ground, dead. The young children couldn't run fast enough to escape the next explosion, and the flames engulfed them. Allison stared away, feeling she was about to throw up. These people were being massacred and they couldn't even help them.

Bursts of automatic weapon rang and, looking up, she saw dozens of men running through the place with assault rifle and submachine guns, shooting everyone. Some armed men tried to resist but they weren't numerous enough and were shredded by piercing bullets in seconds. As she stared at the killing, she felt tears running down her cheeks. She knew trying to do something right now would be suicidal, even for Carter, but it didn't help. Horror and disgust did not go away that easily. She stared at the men shooting children at point blank range, capturing women, throwing them to the ground, _raping_ them…

This was too much. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She didn't want these sadistic barbarians to find her. She curled herself into a ball, closed her eyes and covered her ears. She didn't want anymore to hear the screams and the gunshots, and after a short while she began to weep. She wept for being unable to help people, for knowing that such murderous and bloodthirsty people still existed, for reminding her of the cannibals and the horror of Palmdale's sewers.

* * *

Carter was literally boiling with rage. He stood here, shaking, and couldn't move a single finger. He wanted to intervene, to do something for these people, but he knew he couldn't. he wouldn't survive to that, and he wasn't ready for this. He had made a promise, and he wouldn't break it. He couldn't break it. He had witnessed many terrible things since this war began, but at least they had been committed by machines. Never had he observed such cruelty, brutality and savagery in humans. Staring at his side, he saw Allison had cowered, her ears covered, eyes closed. She was crying. He felt a bit guilty for not being able to do anything to end this.

But, more than anything else, he wanted to lay his hands on each of those guys and tear their limbs apart with his bare hands.

He saw one of them yanking a baby off his mother's hands and throwing him to the ground before firing in his head with his M16. He saw the mother screaming, being dragged aside by two others.

He saw a man who tried to flee from the aggressors being riddled with bullets.

He saw another attacker cutting a young child's throat and leaving him agonizing on the ground.

And he knew he still couldn't go fight them without being killed. They were too numerous, and he was far from being as durable as a T-633.

After some more time, gunshots ceased and the raiders led the few survivors in the centre of the now devastated village. A few seconds more, and Carter heard the sound of numerous motorized vehicles. Looking at the direction of the sound, he soon saw several armoured vehicles heading to the place.

Silently, he crouched next to Allison, tapped her shoulder and told her by gestures that they had to go. She looked at him, her cheeks still wet with tears, and nodded weakly. They both made their way to the top of the hill and luckily stood unnoticed. The raiders didn't come by the road they were on and the car was still there.

They sat in front of the Dodge, Carter still examining the raiders' actions with the binoculars. He saw these guys were even better equipped that he thought they were. A big man who looked like the leader was standing on the roof of an M113A3 military troops transport equipped with a .50 M2 machine gun, 2 M60s on the sides and ACAV metal shields. 2 M1A2 Abrams tanks were standing at the side and he could see M163s anti-aerial vehicles as well as numerous Hummvees fitted with additional armour and several of them with TOW missiles.

_No reason we stay in the surroundings,_ he thought. This was too dangerous.

"C'mon, we have to go." He told Allison with a low, soft tone.

She looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with grief and disgust and still brimming with tears.

"How can they…" she whispered. "How… can they do _this_ ?"

"I don't know…" he answered. "I'm even getting to wonder if they're still human…"

She lowered her head and didn't add anything. _Surely_, Carter thought, _because she's thinking the same…_ As they climbed back in the car and drove away, he reminded the big guy on the roof of the armoured vehicle and thought : _I hope we'll meet again without all your little friends… _He reminded the tattoo on his left arm.

A single word, written in Gothic-style letters.

A name.

NEMROD.

19


	20. Chapter 20 : Nothing Else Would Happen

The sound of the car's engine covered everything else, and no one aboard the Charger made a single noise or said a single word. But this time, it had nothing to do with relief. Allison looked like she would throw up if her lips parted from only millimetres. She was stiff and her face blank, almost like a statue. Carter had the same face and attitude, but his eyes were almost shining with anger and determination. Sam himself had sensed that something was wrong with the humans, and was lying on the back seat, his head between his legs.

It changed all of a sudden, when he raised his nose. Something had changed. He growled and bared his teeth, then barked. Once.

By the time they realized what was happening, the AH-64 Apache was already hovering toward them, coming down until it almost touched the road.

"SHIT !!"

Carter slammed on the brakes. The sides of the road were covered with trees, they could not come past the helicopter. Not now. It was flying too low.

The car spun around, missing the machine's nose from a few meters, and rushed forward. The Apache followed, its weapons pointed toward the car. Carter seized the M4 and handed it to Allison. "Here ! Aim for the turbines !!" Nodding, she bent to the side and fired a burst in the massive pod at the left side of the chopper. It began to sputter, debris flying out of it, and the Apache swayed dangerously on the side.

Suddenly, she retracted her head inside as the tar exploded under the action of the 30mm Chain gun's shells. Then the Apache pulled up abruptly until it was out of range.

Allison cursed under her breath and turned to Carter. "I can't hit it now, it's too high !"

Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt. "DAMMIT !!" Carter roared. Looking forward, Allison saw a Stryker armoured transport stopping in front of the car, its gun turret pointed right at them. A HMWV with additional armour and a roof-mounted TOW missile launcher was at its side.

Looking behind, Carter saw the Apache was no longer here, but two other Hummvees were blocking the road. There was no more escape possible.

Carter stood silent for a long time. Allison could see, by the way he looked forward and behind, that he was trying to find a solution. But at both sides of the road, there were trees. Nothing could allow them to get through.

He closed his eyes, inhaled sharply and stared at Allison. "We can't do anything. I'm sorry." His eyes were full of a sad and guilty resignation.

Allison swallowed and nodded. She knew it was true. It they even tried to fight, they would be shredded to bits in a matter of seconds. "I know." She bent toward him, put a hand on his jaw and placed a soft and tender kiss on his lips. He responded with the same gentleness and care, and when they -reluctantly- pulled apart, he plunged his gaze in hers. She almost felt this bound between them like if it was material, and understood that as long as he was here, nothing could bother her, not even death. She would get killed by them, just like him. They would sacrifice themselves so nothing else would happen. At least, at the moment life would leave them, they would be together. The only regret she had was that she would never see a peaceful world again.

"Whatever happens… well, know that I'll never forget you. I love you." He said on a low voice. Allison smiled and answered, "I love you too."

She handed him the assault carbine and took the SPAS-12 on the back seat. Then she bent on Sam, their loyal and protective friend, stroked his head very slowly and whispered, "Good bye, Sam." The dog whined in answer and licked her hand, looking at her with sad eyes. He understood what was going to happen, and it was like he was pleading them to stay. She felt she was about to cry, but she repelled the tears. After all, dying fighting, fierce and brave, would be better than being slaves or something.

Suddenly a voice rang outside. "Get out of the car ! Now!!"

Carter and Allison looked at each other and nodded simultaneously. The time had come. The time had come to leave this world of pain and destruction, to vanish and never come back.

As they reached for the door's handles, ready to fire at their enemies, ready to take as many of those bastards with them, many things happened very fast.

Sam growled again, a loud roar erupted behind them and the raiders began to shout in surprised, then panicked voices.

Looking in the direction of the roar, they both saw something huge hovering over the cars. An enormous machine with one rotating engine on each side and several inboard weapons. The biggest one was now pointed at the Humvees behind the Charger. A second later a blue bolt of energy came out of the Hunter-Killer's plasma cannon, blasting the two vehicles and killing the men who were already out.

Instantly the Stryker's M2 remote-controlled machine gun opened fire, but the bullets bounced off the machine's armour with no effect. Another plasma discharge destroyed the vehicle and the men that had stepped outside were thrown backwards.

Allison and Carter ran out of the car as the several surviving raiders emptied their assault rifle on the HK without even scratching it. She hid behind the car, watching the third Humvee trying to manoeuvre while the survivors were getting inside, but the HK's primary weapon came to life once again, and the M966's burnt carcass was thrown dozens of meters high in the air before crashing on top of the Stryker's remainings. She shrivelled against the car. This machine had come at the good time, but they would still have to destroy it…

* * *

While the raiders were being dispatched, Carter ran to the trunk and opened it in an instant. As the huge flying machine turned toward them, he shouldered the AT4 rocket launcher and fired. The 84mm self-propelled projectile struck the HK right in its left engine, destroying it. The machine fell to the ground and exploded, scattering metal everywhere. Carter threw himself to the side, using the Charger as a shield, and nothing hit him.

Then everything went silent, and he leaped to his feet, calling "Allison !!" Now he was anguished. What if she got hit by a debris or burnt ? What if her wounds were too serious ? What if…

"I'm here !" Every thought vanished as he heard her voice, a bit shaken, but firm. And then he saw her, standing up slowly. Her right arm was bleeding.

He rushed to her side and took her arm gently, examining the wound with his sensors. Fortunately, the debris hadn't hit a muscle or a bone, it was just a flesh wound. "It's okay, nothing serious", he said, not trying to hide the relief in his own voice. "We just need bandages."

Suddenly, he perceived the sound of a weapon's safety being switched off, and, seizing Allison's left arm, he threw her behind the car, though he would have preferred to be more careful, and spun as a gunshot cracked. A raider, who seemed severely wounded, had stood on his knees and was aiming at him with a Ruger Deerfield hunting carbine.

The .44 bullet impacted on Carter's left scapula and, letting out a roar of pain and rage, he drew his Glock and fired right in the raider's forehead. The guy jerked, his eyes widened and he collapsed without a sound. Then, switching his sensors in infrared, Carter carefully searched for other eventual survivors, and, finding none, returned to the car.

* * *

Allison stood up again, and saw Carter coming to her.

"Are you okay ?" he asked.

"Yes. What happened ?"

"A survivor. He tried to shoot me. Sorry I couldn't be more… delicate, but I had no time."

"It's okay…" she stopped when she saw the blood on his shoulder. She felt concern rise inside her. Maybe it was like the other till now, an impressive wound, but maybe it was more serious than that. "You're hit ! Is it… can you still move your arm ?"

"Um, muscles are okay, bones are as well. I'll need to remove this bullet and stitch the wound. But later. The others aren't far, we need to go, right now."

Allison nodded and climbed in. Carter did as well, but he was interrupted when Sam rose his head and licked his face, happy that it didn't happen like it seemed it would.

"Hey ! Glad to see you too, boy !" He held the dog's head in his hands. "But we're not out of danger, we got to go, right ?"

The dog calmed himself, looking at him with understanding eyes, and finally laid on the back seat. Carter smiled. "Good boy. Don't worry, once we're away, you'll have all the time."

Then he ignited the engine, and manoeuvred the car to turn around.

"Uh… Carter ?" Allison said. The two Humvees were still here, blocking the road. But they didn't burn anymore.

"Hold on." Carter said, hitting the gas pedal. Allison felt like her breath was stuck in her lungs as she saw the batches of metal grow bigger in her field of vision. But the two demolished and half-melted carcasses didn't resist and the Dodge literally burst through them. A violent jerk shook the car, and they were free, the remainings of the huge HK still burning in the trees at the side.

Allsion let out a long sigh and smiled as she stared at Carter. He intercepted her gaze, and smiled back. Sam let out a joyful bark, and they both laughed.

20


	21. Chapter 21 : Executioners, Not Warriors

The black Dodge Charger sped as fast as possible from the remainings of the raiders' vehicles and from the threat of the other raiders themselves. Another possibility was the fact that the HK could have transmitted its position to other machines, and if it was true, then staying in the surroundings wouldn't be very healthy for them.

This hypothesis was confirmed when, after a short while, Sam began to growl. Immediately, Carter abruptly stopped the car at the side of the road under several trees and readied his M4. Allison seized her shotgun, trying not to make a single noise. She knew how the machines' senses could be acute.

If it was machines.

Because if it was not, that would certainly be much worse.

For machines didn't have a single idea of what the word "revenge" meant.

Raiders did.

After a few seconds a dull, loud roar erupted from above the trees, and they stiffened. It came right overhead them, the sound becoming so loud they had to restrain themselves from blocking their ears.

Allison felt her lower jaw vibrate against her skull, and it was like her bones were alive, trying to struggle free from her own body. It rapidly became unbearable, and her ears were hurting like hell.

After a short, yet painful waiting, the vibrations decreased and finally stopped. She hardly perceived the sound itself. All she could tell was that whatever made that sound, it was going away. After a short while, she saw Carter had just walked out the car, and she did the same. He noticed her, and pointed to a spot in the sky, already at a distance. She looked up… and froze.

Three heavy Hunter-Killers had just swooped over them, along with five smaller ones, and, most of all, an enormous Aerial Gunship. They were already about a quarter of a mile away from them, and were heading to the place where the first machine had been taken down.

It was the first time Allison ever saw a Gunship, and she didn't regret not to have seen one until now. It was about twice the size of the heavy HK's and about the same shape, though there were two engines at each side instead of one, and the lower part of the hull was filled with four huge cannons and several smaller weapons.

Allison swallowed. _Lucky they didn't notice us, otherwise…_ As slowly as she could, she backed to the car. Carter was still staring at the machines.

Suddenly, she realized her hearing was normal again as Carter spoke in a low voice, and she sighed in relief. "Let's wait till they're outta sight", Carter said. "I don't want to risk being spotted now."

Allison nodded. She already wondered how the machines didn't spot them in the car. She asked it to Carter. After all, he knew them better.

"Because we didn't move. HK's only use motion sensors and sound receptors at day, and their range can be pretty limited by buildings or trees. Lucky we weren't in the desert, or we'd already be pulverized at a cellular level."

"Pleasant… But given the size of this thing, I guess you're right. It seems to have a lot of firepower."

"Oh yes it does. I've already seen it in action. And it's also very heavily armoured. If the raiders meet it, that's gonna be a slaughter."

"Hah… I wouldn't cry over those… those _monsters_, even if they died in atrocious pain. That would be justice, by the way."

"Agreed. But that also means we shouldn't stay in the surroundings for too long, or we may take a stray shell or whatever. I don't see them anymore, let's go."

"Okay."

They returned to the car silently, and, after making sure no other machine was around, rejoined the road and resumed speeding. Carter had put the assault rifle right next to him, and Allison held the SPAS-12 firmly, staring carefully ahead. Now they were in a potential battle area, everything could happen at any moment. Everything, but mainly bad things. And if something bad happened, she wanted to be ready for that. She wasn't afraid of the red eyes anymore, and she didn't want to die on her knees. Because that was exactly what they wanted. After all they were programmed for this. In their "minds", that was what they were.

Executioners.

Not warriors.

* * *

Carter augmented the sensibility of his senses until maximum efficiency and switched his imaging sensors to infrared. Scanning the landscape ahead of them, he searched for the tiniest clue of the presence of machines, for the heat that came from an HK's engines or an Ogre's exhaust pipes.

But there was nothing.

Not yet.

He knew he couldn't spot Terminators or smaller ground units with his thermal scanners, so he switched back to normal vision. After all, those units were often the most dangerous, for they were harder to spot.

And he received the confirmation of it, when he suddenly saw something jump from the trees. A small _thud_ was heard on the roof, followed by frantic clinking sounds. As the M4 was a bit too long, Carter grabbed his handgun and fired several shots randomly in the roof, hoping to hit the thing. But, all of a sudden, something fell on the hood and faced them.

It looked like a four-legged chrome spider, about the size of a plate, with six small red lenses on its mobile head. The legs' tips were spikes, which the machine used to steady itself. But the worst was the set of four sharp mandibles protruding from the head.

_Damn, I hate these things…_ Carter thought.He instantly trained his gun on it, intending to literally riddle it with bullets, but, before he could pull the trigger, the mechanical predator threw itself forward, landing on Carter's chest. As it tried to reach for his head, the mandibles began to spin like drills.

_Uh-oh._

Carter reacted in a second, letting go of the Glock and clutching the machine with his hand, stopping it from throwing itself on his face. It was a hard struggle first because the spikes of the spider's legs were scratching his chest, second because he still had to keep an eye on the road and drive straight. It wasn't the moment to crash in the woods. Who knew how many of those things were waiting there ?

After a few seconds of silent fight, he achieved in pulling the machine away from him. He grimaced as the leg-spikes were painfully torn off his wounds, but nonetheless, he crushed as hard as he could. The spider made a high-pitched metallic sound before going all limp. Carter saw the red light in the lenses slowly dimming until completely vanishing. Then he threw it out of the car, and slammed on the gas pedal. No other machine came, and after ten minutes they were out of the forest.

* * *

When they finally came to a halt, about one hour after leaving the forest, Allison helped Carter to remove the .44 bullet that was embedded in his shoulder. It was a dirty work, but she wanted to help anyway. She didn't want to be useless.

"I got it." She said, holding the pliers.

"Pull."

She heard the humid ripping sound when she did so and shivered in disgust, and, when the projectile was out she stared at it. It was covered with blood and half-crushed.

"Wow… your bones are that tough ?"

"Seems so. I'm not the Hulk guy, but… apparently we share some common points."

She chuckled, then asked : "Stitch ?"

"Yeah. I'll do it myself, it's okay."

Then he took the thread and a needle.

21


	22. Chapter 22 : Rescued

Carter took his K-Bar military knife and cut the thread after finishing his last stitch. Then he got up and flexed his arm several times."Okay, that will sustain." he said in a satisfied tone. Then he turned to Allison. "What about you ? Anything I should worry about ?"

Allison stared at him and shook her head. "No, I'm alright."

"Okay."

Suddenly, he froze and looked at the forest. "Listen…" he whispered.

She did so. And, after a short while, she understood why he said that. The distant sound of explosions and cannon shots could be heard from the forest.

"Apparently, the machines have found the raiders."

"Good."

He turned at her, looking surprised.

"What ? We won't miss them, will we ?"

"Sure we won't but… I'm just not used to hear you speak this way…"

"Well, people change."

He snickered at this statement and looked down at her, grinning mockingly. "Really ? I didn't know, I'm such an idiot…"

Allison smiled. "Exactly. That's what you are."

He stood silent for a short moment, and then his ironic grin changed to a devilish smile. "You don't know what you're exposing yourself to."

"Oh yes ?"

"Yes. It's not exactly the time, but you'll get your punishment when it'll come."

She laughed lightly. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Don't speak too fast, you could regret those words."

At this moment, they heard the roar of an engine coming in their direction. Instantly, they both seized their weapons and trained them in the direction of the sound. Carter looked slowly up, realizing it was not coming from the ground, but from the _air_. Then, a loud metallic _thud_ rang, and all of a sudden they saw a huge fireball falling from the small cliff they were behind.

"Oh, shit !"

He dragged Allison out and brought her to the ground seconds before it crashed right where they just were in a deafening explosion. He covered her with his own body, protecting her from the burning debris that flew everywhere around. When it stopped, he got up and asked her, "Nothing broken ?"

"Uhh, no… What happened ?"

Carter turned around, to see a mass of twisted and melted metal burning. Something that looked like the structure of a vehicle, with panels still set on it here and there. But something caught his attention. A small, four-bladed propeller on a vertical fin. "Well", he said, "looks like a chopper just crashed here."

"A chopper ?!"

"Uh-uh… I'm pretty sure it's one."

"… Wait… the raiders had one."

"Yeah… could be theirs…" He was silenced by loud barks coming from the car.

"Sam…"

He swore. "Goddammit, always choosing the best moment !"

He ran to the car, trying to reach the trunk, but it was too late. They both saw the heavy HK swooping over the cliff, its weapons aimed at them.

Allison suddenly felt desperate and powerless. Here they were, on this empty space with no cover but a car and rocks, and heavy plasma cannons were trained at them. Even if Carter reached the trunk and took the rocket launcher, he would be blown into bits in no time. And she couldn't hope doing better either. _It can't end just like this, it's not possible !_ she thought. _Not after everything we went through ! _The hum of a power cell being loaded rang, and she closed her eyes, knowing there was nothing to do_. _It was the end. A last thought came to her mind. ___Carter… I'm so sorry… _

She stood here, unmoving... waiting for the sound of the plasma cannon going off... the exposion, and the silence... darkness... finally... the end...

_BOOM !!_

There it was… but… why all this mess, why didn't she feel a burning heat, the blast, the sensation of her body being blown off... why did she still hear the decreasing sound of the engines… _Wait… Decreasing ?! _All of a sudden, she felt something hit her with implacable force on the right temple, and everything vanished.

**Hours later…**

She could only hear muffled noises. A metallic _clang_, footsteps… voices… there were several people talking, but she couldn't hear clearly what they said. Her vision was blurred, but when she looked up, all she saw was a bright white light. Her eyes watered and she closed them, blinked several times… After a while it became clear. A man she didn't know was looking down at her, and she apparently was in what seemed to be a surgical room.

"She's waking up ! Call Dawson, now !" the man said. Then he turned back to her, "Can you hear me ? Can you understand me ?"

"Y… yes… where am I ?"

"Bakersfield Resistance Base. Don't worry, you're safe here."

_The Resistance…_

"What happened ?"

"You better ask Lieutenant Dawson when you'll see her. She's leading the unit that brought you here."

She slowly processed his words. _Brought me here… me or us ? _She sat up and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen.

"What about him ?"

"Who ?"

"The… the man that was with me… when you found me… where is he ?"

"Oh, the man… um, well…"

"What happened to him ?"

The man hesitated, and she grabbed him by the shoulder. "Tell me ! Is he here ?" The concern in her voice was clear.

"Um… he was badly wounded… He…"

_No… No, not like this !_

"How bad ?" she asked in a shaky voice. She was only a fraction of an inch from breaking up.

"Um… I don't know… I'm sorry, but… I don't know. They brought you in this room, they told about the guy, told he was in a bad shape but… never seen him..."

Her hand fell from the man's shoulder and she lowered her head. Tears came to her eyes and she did nothing to stop them. She covered her face with her hands and wept silently.

Suddenly, the sound of a door being opened rang, and she heard someone else step inside. She looked up. A woman with short red hair and blue eyes walked in. She was tall, and wore military fatigues similar to Carter's. A handgun holster was attached to her belt. As she came closer, Allison saw the inscription "Lt. Dawson" on a badge on her chest. _Lieutenant Dawson… _She realized it was the officer the man had just talked about. The one who brought them here.

Dawson flashed Allison a friendly smile before speaking in a deep voice, "Hey, welcome back. You had a long trip, it seems…" Allison interrupted her.

"Where is the other one ? The man, where is he ?"

Dawson frowned, seeming confused, then her eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh yes, the cyborg…"

"Yes… What happened to him ?"

The woman sighed. "Well… He's alive, if that's what you want to know, but… his structure sustained heavy damage, he needed repairs."

"Repairs…"

"Yes. We brought him in the maintenance room, since his life wasn't in danger… Though, some parts need to be replaced."

"So… he's… he's out of danger ?"

"Yes."

Allison let out a big sigh of relief and closed her eyes. She hardly realized she was holding her breath. Then a thought occurred in her mind. A disturbing thought. She looked at Dawson again.

"You suspect him, right ?"

"Suspect ?"

"He's a cyborg, and…"

"Well, we _suspected_ him, actually. But we ran tests on him, checked his chip… we know for sure Skynet has no control over him now. Besides, Connor often offers a chance to those who worked for Skynet. Cyborgs or machines, anything. Which I personally approve."

"Machines ? You mean…"

"Well, Terminators. He reprograms them, turns them against their own creator."

Allison fell silent. She never, ever had the idea that men like this… Connor would exist. She thought they were all despising every machine and what related to Skynet. That was strange.

"Who is this man you just talked about… Connor ?"

"John Connor ? He's our leader. Commander of this base and the Resistance of the United States. He even got men from the entire world to follow him. He's a natural leader, I've never seen anyone like him. If there's one man who can deal with Skynet, sure it's him. He brought hope to all of us, which wasn't the easiest thing to do, after the Resistance world command was destroyed... But... he made it. He united us all. He gave us the strength to keep going."

Allison noticed that, while she spoke, her eyes were sparkling with admiration and pride.

"John Connor… I think I'd like to meet him…"

"Don't worry, you will. In time."

22


	23. Chapter 23 : Free From His Master's Hand

Configuring… SERIES THI MODEL 660 INFILTRATOR REBOOTED

FACTORY DEFAULT MODE

WARNING… MOTOR STRUCTURE DAMAGED

[Analyzing… LEFT LOCOMOTORY COMPONENT DAMAGED (SOLEUS ACTUATOR INOPERATIVE)

STERNAL RIBS DAMAGED

LEFT COLLARBONE DAMAGED

RIGHT ARM INOPERATIVE

LEFT ARM DAMAGED (BICEPS BRACHII ACTUATOR INOPERATIVE; BRACHIALIS ACTUATOR INOPERATIVE)

WARNING : REPAIR IMPOSSIBLE; PROCEED TO SKYNET MAINTENANCE GRID]

Carter awoke with a groan and slowly opened his eyes while the diagnostic scrolled on his internal monitor. It took him a moment to realize what it actually meant: he was badly injured and he couldn't fix it himself, neither would he return to Skynet for it. _Goddamn… What am I gonna do ?! Am I gonna stay paralyzed like this ?! And… and… where am I, by the way ?_

He saw he was in some sort of underground room, with a single reinforced door, a set of computers beside a wall, wires here and there, tools on shelves or carts… and people. People working on _him._ One guy was doing something on his chest with tools he had never seen. He hardly felt anything, except the sensation of something moving _inside_ his chest. After a short while the guy headed for a cart to pick something. While he was away Carter looked down… and let out a horrified cry at what he saw.

His chest was opened like a plastic packaging, the skin torn off, and the flesh and metallic ribs were clearly visible. He could even see his lungs and… and his own _heart_ beating. But… there was something else. Most of his ribs had been taken off, and metallic pieces that looked like Terminator parts had been set on each side of his chest. _What the fuck is that ?!_

Looking up, he realized the people in the room were now staring at him. He asked with a hoarse voice, "Who are you ? What have you done to me ?!"

A tall man with dark brown hair answered. "Well, first we're the maintenance team of Bakersfield Resistance Base. And second, we're currently fixing you."

"Fixing ?!"

"Yes. When one of our combat squads found you out there, they brought you here. You sustained massive damage from the explosion when the HK crashed, but unfortunately, some parts have to be replaced. Like your ribs."

"They found us, and… so they shot the HK down ?"

"Yes."

"And rescued us ?"

"Yes."

"Where is she ? Where's Allison ?"

"If you're talking about the girl, she's in our hospital. Don't worry, she had minor concussions, nothing critical. She's OK."

_She's OK… Nothing critical…_ His lips curled into a smirk. _Everything's good then._ Everything… except one thing.

"Is this repairable ? Will I… be 100% again ?"

"Yes," the brown-haired man said, "but it will take some time. Especially for your right arm."

"My ?..."

Shifting his gaze to said arm, he suddenly understood why it was going to "take some time." Because he didn't have any right arm anymore.

* * *

"There. You're probably tired, try to sleep. And even if you can't, rest. You'll need it." Dawson said while pointing to a steel door, behind which was a bedroom. Allison nodded. "Thank you."

"Any time." Dawson replied with a smile. Then she walked away.

Allison opened the door and entered. It was a small, square room with concrete walls, weapon racks and a single bed. She didn't even remember the last time she slept in a real bed. And she surely didn't want to. The time was not ideal for nostalgia, and besides, she didn't need anything that would depress her. She already felt bad enough.

She sat on the bed. It felt cold, but at least it wasn't hard and unpleasant like bare land. She never thought she would sleep in a bed in her entire life. Then her thoughts drifted to Carter. Again. Injured, stuck into a maintenance room while being _repaired_… with people taking things off his body and replacing them, like if they were engine parts…

She took a deep breath to hold back the tears. _Enough. I've had enough of crying every time like a child… There's no place for it in this world, girlie ! No place ! You only bend over a friend's grave and you get shot in the back ! You MUST get over this girlie ! YOU HAVE TO BE STRONG !!_

After a few second keeping repeating this over and over again in her head, she finally relaxed. She was still sad, but she would not show it. Not to them. She leaned over the bed and curled into a ball before slowly drifting into the infinite and mysterious land of dreams.

* * *

Carter watched the man he had seen working on him securing something in his chest, and again, he noticed he felt nothing. No pain, nothing. Only this strange sensation that there was a bug walking around in his flesh.

"Why don't I feel pain ? I should be."

Again, the brown-haired man, who he now knew as Curtis, spoke. "You should, but before we began working on you, we accessed to your nerve interface via computer and partially disabled it."

"Like… some kind of cyber-anesthetic ?"

The man laughed. "Yes, it could be defined as such."

Suddenly, the guy that worked on him turned to Curtis and said, "It's done. Everything's secure."

"Alright", he responded. "Next phase then."

A slight nod and the man walked to a cart where he took a big piece of armour that looked like…

"A T-700's breastplate !"

"That's what fits best to your… um… format. We had to make a few adjustments, but only minor ones, it will sustain."

The man holding the breastplate leaned over him again while another one came with other tools. They began to screw the plate on with an electric driver, and Carter felt his chest vibrate violently. He grimaced. _That_ was unpleasant.

They used the driver twice, then they adjusted other pieces, secured locks, and finally the guy holding the tools came with something that looked like a torch, except it wasn't fed by gas bottles, but by some kind of big battery. He aimed it to the locks and a second after a white beam came out of it. Carter could feel the heat it was emitting. It lasted a few minutes while the man repeated the operation on several spots, then on the other side of the plate. After what, he turned the device off and nodded to Curtis.

"What's this ?" Carter asked.

"Fusion torch. Skynet uses it commonly in its factories for welding. This one comes from a T-600 factory we blew up last year."

Carter nodded once then looked at his chest again. The matt grey plate completely covered his lungs and heart. He felt strange while staring at it, because he knew he used to have ribs here. And now everything was covered with a metal plate. He promptly looked up when Curtis spoke again. "It's properly secure, don't worry. We modified the locks we just welded so it can be easily disassembled if you're injured. Which, if you're not the Rambo type, shouldn't happen. You're well-protected in this area."

"Uh-huh… And what about my arm ?"

"We'll have to replace it also. We're already took measurements in this area, and a 700's endo-arm will fit properly. Of course it won't be very handsome, but hey, at least you'll have two arms."

Carter smirked and nodded. _Sure it'll be better. And he doesn't know it will heal apparently…_

Then another question came to his mind.

"Why d'you do it without… I mean, I'm a cyborg, built by Skynet…"

"I know that, we all do, but the fact is that you're not the first one in that situation."

Carter frowned. "How so ?"

"That's a story everyone in this base knows… About four years ago we captured an infiltrator that had tried to sneak into our first base… and, well, it turned out to be something else. A hybrid. Half-man, half-machine, with a brain controlled by a chip, just like you… At first we thought it was a trap… Connor, our commander, wanted the cyborg disassembled, but… he escaped the base. And when Connor found him, the cyborg saved him from Hydrobots, offered him his help. He infiltrated Skynet's main complex, helped Connor inside… and sacrificed himself to save Connor's life despite Skynet's attempts to take over him. It's a legend now in this base."

Carter didn't speak for a while. _Another hybrid… who overrode his programming to save a human life…_ Finally he asked, "What was the guy's name ?"

"Wright… Marcus Wright."

"Marcus Wright…"

"Yeah. He was the first proof that… that even machines should be given a chance. That's why we do this for you. Connor wanted you fixed once we checked your chip and found no control software. He thinks you're like Wright. A pawn that finally struggled free from his master's hands."

23


	24. Chapter 24 : Grief and Consequences

A few seconds after Curtis had finished speaking, the metal door opened and two persons entered. One was a tall man dressed in full combat gear, with military-style short hair and brown, difficultly readable eyes. His face was clearly one of a man that had seen more death and pain than he should have, but had got over it. The face of a man that wore the weight of grief and loneliness on his shoulders.

The face of a warrior.

The other was a woman with long red hair, green eyes and a pale face. She wore a white blouse and trousers, and had the same kind of face than him, except a bit softer. Her gaze showed a calm and determined spirit. Somewhat like the man's, but with less grief.

The man stopped in front of Carter, and spoke in a low and seemingly tired voice. "So, here you are… born as a slave of the machines, you struggled free, and now you're protecting a human… You remind me so much of him…"

"I assume you're talking about Marcus Wright."

"Yes, I am. I did not think I would meet someone else like him one day, well I was wrong. May I ask you your name ?"

"Carter Lewis."

"It's an honor, Carter. I am John Connor. I suppose they told you about me."

"Yeah, they did. Though I don't know many. I wouldn't like to be like you, Connor. Don't get me wrong, I'm not insulting you, but you've been through a lot, that's obvious. More than I have. This already means something."

John Connor stared at Carter, and slowly his mouth curled into a joyless grin. "Yeah, I agree. You wouldn't like to be like me, and I wouldn't either. I hope no one will have to wear what I wear. One's already too much."

"It's always like this." Carter replied. "When there's something you don't want to see or do or wear or whatever, you always come to see or do or wear it. Or whatever."

Connor laughed. "Yeah, right again. But we shouldn't keep talking about this, or we're gonna end up depressed before an hour. Here, meet my wife." He gestured toward the red-haired woman. "Kate Brewster."

Carter nodded to her, and she responded the same. Connor continued, "She's the head of the medical team in here, and the best surgeon I've ever met." Kate stared at him, said a mock angry voice, "Stop that!" and elbowed him playfully. His smile grew wider, and Carter chuckled. "Seems you'd better say she's the worst…" he said.

With that Connor burst out laughing, and Kate shot a "yeah, thank you so much" stare at Carter, which only made him smile wider. Then wince and hiss with pain when one of the maintenance guys stuck a small rod in his right shoulder and began to set a neural sensor.

"Ow. Dammit, I _hate _losing limbs."

Though the situation wasn't exactly funny, Kate had to stare at her boots and recite the name of every bone of the human skeleton to stop herself from laughing.

* * *

When Allison woke up, she looked at the digital clock aside her bed. 08:54.

_Almost 9 o'clock ! Damn, did I sleep that long !? _She jumped out of the bed, shoving the sheets aside, and walked to the door.

As she got out she saw a soldier walking away. She called to him, "Excuse me ?" He turned to her, and she looked down. "Uhh… could you tell me where the… maintenance room is ?" The soldier smiled, and replied, "Sure, I'll show you, c'mon."

"Thank you", she said weakly, feeling a bit embarrassed, and she followed him. Five minutes later, he stopped and pointed to a huge metal door. "It's in here." She thanked him, smiling hesitantly, then opened the door.

Everyone stared at her when she walked inside the room. The technicians in white blouses, the red-haired woman standing at the right of the officer who stood in front of…

"Carter !" She was so shocked by what she was seeing she didn't say anything else. She just couldn't.

He was restrained on a wall, the metal plate in his chest clearly visible, several wounds on his legs and stomach, and his right arm was missing. One of the technicians was currently adjusting something on a metallic port inside his shoulder. Allison covered her mouth with her hands and tears shone in her eyes before flowing on her cheeks. She didn't care. She didn't try to stop them. Not here. She couldn't bear to see him in such a shape; it was too much for her. She had already seen him wounded, but… not at such an extent. She never _imagined_ it. "Oh, God… Carter…" She could see he was looking at her with pity in his eyes. She could tell he hated to see her this way. But she couldn't stop. Even with all those people whom she knew were looking at her, she couldn't stop.

It was just too much.

A voice, a deep male voice, spoke loud. "Leave them. They don't need us right now." Then footsteps, and seconds later the door was closed. Knowing there was no one else in the room but them, Allison walked slowly up to Carter, still not able to stop crying. She raised a shaking hand and touched his neck, looking in his grey eyes. Then she heard him speak. Like always, his voice was calm, soft and soothing. "Allison… don't worry… I'm gonna be okay, you know… I'm gonna be okay… It's just a question of time…"

"Oh, Carter…" Allison closed the short gap between them, and her lips brushed his until she was kissing him tenderly. She felt him respond as much as he could. Like always when they kissed, she felt like Earth was shattering and they were floating away, in their own universe. But, this time it wasn't as luminous as it used to be, it was tainted with grief and pain. It was tainted in red. When it finally ended, when she broke off, she realized how she missed his arms around her, and this only made her feel worse. She buried her head in his right shoulder and burst frankly into tears. After a short while she regained her composure and looked up at him. It was the first time she saw such a desperate look on his face. It was like he was about to cry, and her heart nearly missed a beat.

"I've had enough of it all…" he whispered. "Don't cry like this… You don't know how _fucking _bad it makes me feel. Please, stop!"

"Carter…"

"STOP !!"

He yelled this last word. She backed promptly, shocked. He was breathing harshly and his eyes were shining. _All this grief… because of… me ?!_ she thought. She shook her head. "I'm sorry… Carter, I'm so sorry…"

He inspired deeply, closed his eyes, and finally looked at her again. "It's okay… But don't do that ever again, OK ?! D'you realize how much I _hate_ to see you like this ?!" She nodded, and he went on, "Look, all those wounds… I got them in the explosion. But they're gonna fix the mechanics, and then my skin will heal…and it'll be like nothing had happened."

"But… About your arm…"

"When the new one'll be set, the flesh will regenerate on it. Don't worry." He flashed her a confident and reassuring smile, and again, she trusted him, drawing her strength from his certitude. She smiled back, and said, "I will wait."

* * *

Carter let out a mental sigh of relief. At least she still had the strength to trust him. For a moment he had feared she would lose it. _Apparently, I underestimated her. For once, it's a good thing. _He told her, "Well, I think… um, could you tell the guys outside that it's okay ?"

"Sure !" She ran to the door and opened it.

Connor, his wife and the techs came back in the room, looking at Allison curiously. Carter realized none of them had met her yet.

"Connor !" he called. The man turned to him. "Well, this is Allison Young. She's the girl that was with me when your squad brought us here."

"Oh !" He flicked his gaze back to her and extended one hand, grinning. "Pleased to meet you, Allison. I'm John Connor."

"Thank you, Mr Connor." she said. "I… I was told about you and… uh… I have to admit I was quite intrigued."

"Oh yes ? Who told you ?"

"Uh… it's Dawson, Lieutenant Dawson. She told me about your attitude toward the machines, and… well, you know." she finished, laughing weakly.

"Yeah, I get it. You're not the first one." Connor responded, and his smile widened.

The techs came back to Carter and resumed their work. To his displeasure they used the electric driver again, then one took a socket wrench and began to screw something manually. While he did this, he pushed a little too hard, and a sharp pain occurred in his shoulder.

"Ouch !! Watch out, dammit !"

The tech quickly apologized and returned to his task.

"I definitely hope I won't get blown up again, it really… ow! … sucks."

Kate Brewster burst out laughing, Allison looked at her then at Connor, who shrugged, confused.

Watching this, Carter rolled his eyes.

24


	25. Chapter 25 : New Beginning

**72 hours later…**

"Mr Connor, Mr Connor !"

Curtis literally burst into John Connor's office, slamming the door against the wall. Connor let out an irritated sigh and snapped, "Don't you see I'm busy here !? Wait outside !"

Allison, who was sitting in front of Connor, looked curiously at the tech. She recognized him to be one of the few that had been assigned to… _fix_ Carter. She hated this term, but unfortunately there was no other.

The tech insisted. "Sir… you should come see that, it's incredible ! The cyborg…"

This last word caught Connor's and Allison's immediate attention. They jumped to their feet simultaneously, stared at each other, then turned to the tech and said in unison : "Let's go !!" The tech gulped, nodded and walked out of the office, closely followed by the two others. When they came to the lab's entrance, the three saw a tech walking out. Curtis immediately asked him : "Are the tests completed ?" The second tech stopped dead in his tracks, then blinked : "uh… yes. Everything works."

Without even responding, the tech chief opened the door and entered the lab. Connor stopped and motioned for Allison to go first, then he went inside.

They both turned their heads in the direction Curtis pointed… and both gasped in complete awe.

Carter was sitting on a lab seat, with electrodes attached on his bare torso, shoulders and arms. A third tech was pulling them off one by one. His new arm was in place and fully functional, but what had to be seen was that he was fully healed. His flesh and skin were completely regenerated, leaving only small scars here and there. But, aside from that, he looked like nothing ever happened.

Allison blinked several times, mouth open. She couldn't believe it. Only one day happened since the mechanical repairs were completed, and yet here he was, as fresh as the first day she saw him. He locked his gaze onto hers, and smiled.

It was too much. She laughed, tears of joy now brimming in her eyes. And, when he rose to his feet, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head on his collarbone. Still not able to believe he had been able to heal that fast. When she felt his arms around her, one on her back and the other stroking her hair, she broke up and cried. But this time, there were no pain, disgust or grief. Only happiness. And love.

* * *

Carter was happy as well. Happy that he was fully repaired and healed, that Allison had forgotten her own pain. It was the best thing he could have asked for. He held her tenderly, and glanced over Allison's head at Connor, who was smiling. When he noticed it, the Resistance officer winked. Carter chuckled and winked back before saying : "Thank you, Connor. I'll never forget what you did for us."

Allison broke the hug and turned to the man. "Yes, thank you so much." she added. Connor's smile grew wider and he nodded. "I'd have done the same for anyone, you know. Cyborg or not, we all deserve a chance to be recognized as… more than what we are." His voice trailed off, and he lowered his head. "Even Terminators can be so much more…"

Carter noticed Connor's reaction. He was curious about it, and about what experience had allowed Connor to think this way. But he remained silent. That was none of his business, and besides, if Connor wanted to mention it he'd done it already.

Suddenly an idea came to his mind. "Connor ? I'd like to ask you something."

The man stared at Carter again. "Sure, go on."

"Well… Our car was destroyed in the explosion, right ? When you found us ?"

"Yes."

"We had a dog with us… a German Shepherd…"

"Oh, yes. Sam, is that it ?"

"Yeah."

"Allison told me about him." Connor grinned. "A smart boy, it seems. He's alive. Dawson told me it ran out of the car shortly before the HK crashed. Right now he's on our kennel."

Carter felt relief wash over him. "Thank God. I thought I'd lost him. Sammy…"

"You trained him, right ? Because, he's quite resourceful."

"Yeah. Found him in Brawley. Poor boy was starving… Since then, he never left. I trained him to react to machines, taught him to recognize weapons, evade threats, things like that."

"Well, that was successful. May I ask a question ?"

"Of course."

"Uh… how did you two meet ?"

* * *

Allison smiled at the memories of this day that changed her fate and taught her what hope was. She spoke first. "He found me in Palmdale… my native town… I was unconscious, and he helped me… gave me food, and… well, I stood with him since this moment. He taught me to handle a shotgun…" she chuckled. "…and I shot my first Terminator the next day."

Carter put a hand on her shoulder and added, "A T-633. She got him with the first shot. Blew half its head off. I gotta say, I was quite proud…"

"Half a T-633's head ?" Connor raised an eyebrow. "With a _shotgun_ ?"

"A shotgun _and_ FRAG-12 explosive slugs." Carter corrected with an amused voice.

"Oh." The Resistance commander smirked. "No wonder one shot was enough."

Both men laughed.

"Now, Connor." Carter said more seriously. "I have to ask you a favor."

"Go ahead."

"Well, can we stay here ? We're safer in this base than anywhere else. And besides, we could be of some use here…"

Connor shot Carter an incredulous look. "Why d'you even bother asking ?! Of course you can stay here, you are welcome here ! We're not gonna let you go like this !" he concluded, chuckling. Then he walked forward and extended a hand, which Carter shook happily. "You never know… Anyway, thanks so much, Connor." Allison herself smiled at Connor and nodded.

**Hours later…**

"A GTAR-21 ?! Man, where did you get this ?!" Carter exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at the Israeli bullpup assault rifle. He couldn't believe such a rare weapon could be found here. After all, it was never imported in the States.

He was on the base's armoury looking for new weapons, since his old ones had been destroyed with the car.

Smith, the armourer, a short and stocky man with gray hair and a slightly wrinkled face, smiled and responded, "Well, this one comes from a former Colombian soldier who came here, but was killed in action several days after… I brought the rifle back, but hell, no one ever took it. Always asking for M16s or things like that… those guys don't know to appreciate exotic weapons. You like it ?"

"If I…?! I've been dreaming about a gun like this for _years _!! Can I try it ?!"

"Of course !" Smith said happily, and he handed him the rifle. "This way…"

He led Carter to another sealed room, fitted for target practice.

After handing Carter several magazines, the armourer smiled and said, "Enjoy yourself !", before heading out.

Carter examined the Tavor closely, weighing it, detailing the mechanism. Then he inserted a clip, cocked and aimed, carefully keeping his finger off the trigger. The weapon fitted perfectly to his shoulder, and the grip was comfortable. The underbarrel M203 grenade launcher was well-placed, as the trigger guard could be used as a secondary grip. Plus, the ITL MARS red-dot reflex sight was placed at ideal distance from the eye. In short, he already _loved_ this gun.

Switching the safety off, he fired off several rounds in semi-auto mode, then switched to full auto and let out a few bursts until the magazine was empty. The feeling reminded him of his M4, except the ergonomics was far better and he had less trouble to hold it steady, even if the difference was tiny. He then tried to unload and reload the rifle as quickly as possible, and was pleased to notice that the bullpup layout didn't slow him down. This wasn't exactly a problem, thanks to his superhuman speed, but it was good to know. And it reinforced his conviction that this weapon was _the_ one he needed.

_Okay, I've made my mind. I WANT IT._

When he came back to the armoury, a wide smile plastered on his face, Smith was waiting for him, looking almost excited. "So ?..."

"If only I could've got one like this since the beginning.... This rifle is perfect."

The armourer grinned. "Well then, it's all yours."

"Thanks, man. By the way, can I get a supply of mags and grenades for the M203 ?"

"Sure, help yourself."

Carter went to the shelves where the ammunition was stored, spotted a load of STANAG standard magazines and put them in his bag. He did the same with 40mm HE grenades, then headed for the door. "Thanks again, man, I owe you one !" he said turning to Smith. The stocky man replied, "You owe me nothing, arm our people's my job. Anyway, it's been a pleasure to meet a connoisseur. You need anything else…"

"I'll remember."

Then he went out. Allison was in the corridor, waiting for him. "So, you found what you wanted ?"

"Yeah, I did." he answered, showing her his newly acquired Tavor. "Don't you want one yourself ?"

"It's already done," she said, smiling. "I've been to the armoury yesterday."

"And… what did you take ?"

"A shotgun."

Carter laughed. "Always the same good old habits, huh ?"

"You took an assault rifle yourself.", she countered playfully.

"Everyone does. It's best suited for this kind of combat."

Allison rolled her eyes. "I'm not the geek around here."

Carter softly punched her on the shoulder and she chuckled.

25


	26. Chapter 26 : A Busy Week

Once he arrived in front of the heavy metal door of Connor's office, Carter knocked twice. A muffled voice answered, "Come in."

He opened the door and walked inside the office. Connor was sitting behind his desk, cleaning a disassembled HK 416 assault rifle. Carter whistled. "Nice little baby you got there… 5.56 NATO, right ?"

Connor looked up and sniggered, "Yeah… I see why Smith was so enthusiastic about you now."

"Well, I began to get interested in firearms since I was… what… 9 years old. Judgment day, as you call it, happened two years after, but still… seems I got a better memory than I recalled. I fired my first shots at my tenth birthday."

"Ten years old ?!"

Carter laughed. "My dad. I fired _his_ M1911 in our garden when we were sure the neighbors weren't looking."

"So… it was kind of a birthday gift from him ?"

"Yep. My mom was out at this moment, for shopping. She went into hysterics when she learned that, I'd never seen her yell at my dad like that before…" With that he burst out laughing at the memory. Connor laughed as well and said in an amused tone, "Seems you had a pretty good time… But I doubt you've come here only to speak about good old days. What brings you here ?"

Carter became serious again. "Well, in fact it's about Allison. She's… impatient. She really wants to go out fighting, and… you know, she wanted me to try and convince you. I did because I think she's ready for that."

Connor looked at him. "I understand this, but she's _fourteen_ ! She's too young for that, she shouldn't even have to think about this…"

"Why not ? Connor, you know in what world we live in today. Before I found her she was always running away, from everything. Now she's here… I mean, it's new to her but she got used to that pretty fast. She shot a 633 down just_ one_ day after learning to use a shotgun… Now that she isn't scared of them every time she sees them… you know what I mean."

"Yes, but…"

"And besides, whether she's fourteen or forty, the machine don't care, they'll kill her anyway, you know that ! Leave her a chance, Connor, really… she deserves that. Let me give her some basic training, complete with your own, and then see how she gets through."

"Did she tell you that ?"

"Nope, it's my own speech. That's what I think about her." He sighed and went on, "A couple of days ago, we were on an abandoned village, and a Series 380 Ground Support HK came, blasting everything in its path. We fled until Sam jumped on it from behind, catching the metal's attention. And… and then, she ran right _in front_ of it."

"She did this ?! In front of a rapid-fire machine gun and a rocket launcher ?!"

"Yeah. She came only inches from it. Then found a weakness in the armour and emptied her whole magazine in it… killed it in seconds. What I mean's that… many men far older than her wouldn't even had this idea ! She amazed me that day. I don't think her age's a limit for her. She's got more guts than I could say. Outside, she may be a kid but… but inside she's far from it. At least give her a chance to show you, Connor. Then do as you please. That's all I'm asking for."

Carter fell silent while Connor lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought. The cyborg guessed he was weighing the pros and cons, and did not dare saying a single word. This decision wasn't his to make.

A few seconds after the officer glanced at Carter again, "Okay, you will train her and then we'll test her capabilities. You have one week, Carter. After that, I want to see what she can do personally."

The blond hybrid rose on his feet and saluted, then went out of the office, closing the door behind him. He headed for Allison's room and knocked, then entered. She stared up at him, a look of hope and determination on her face. "So ?"

"I got one week to train you. I think we'd better start today."

She flashed him a big smile. "We can start now then."

"Okay. We'll go to the armoury first. You need a better weapon."

**3 hours later…**

The echo of the last gunshot faded rapidly and Allison slowly lowered the G36KE assault carbine she had chosen. Carter ran to the training targets, evaluating each shot, then turned to her and gave a thumbs-up. She smiled happily.

"Good work." he commented, smiling back. "You're learning fast."

"Like I already said, I have a good teacher."

"Hey, the teacher doesn't make everything. I told you you were a fast learner, remember ?"

"Yeah, I know… oh, forget it." she concluded, chuckling. "What's next ?"

Carter came back to her. "Switch the fire selector to full-auto."

Which she did quickly. Carter nodded and said, "Okay. Now aim for one target and fire a short burst, 4 or 5 round, not more."

She complied. The rifle's recoil took her by surprise but she managed to put every bullet in the target.

Carter grinned. "Good. This is how you'll have to use your rifle except if you need longer bursts. But try not to get in this kind of situation. I know it ain't exactly easy, but if you empty a full mag in one burst, then maybe 50 percent of your bullets or more will be wasted. It'll be nothing more but a waste of ammo. Alright ? So now, what I want you to do, is to fire a burst on each target, and try to switch targets as fast as possible. 5 bullets in one, 5 in the next and so on. You need to master this perfectly."

She nodded and lifted the carbine again when Carter stopped her. "Wait. Stay as you are, but don't shoot." Then he came closer.

She instantly focused herself on the target. _Don't think about him, only the target. The target !_

But he was too close, far too close. _The target, the target, the target… Dammit girlie, control yourself !_ She took a deep breath and focused again.

Then she heard him speak, but this time it had no effect on her. She just kept concentrated._ Phew. Better this way._

"Your arms are too stiff. Relax. Stretch them but don't tense your muscles. I told you that already for the shotgun. If you're too stiff your arms will be affected by the recoil, not your shoulders, and then you may hurt yourself. Here you have a stock to compensate the effect on your shoulder, that's what it's made for. Relax."

She nodded and relaxed her muscles as much as she could.

"Good, that's far better. Now go on."

**72 hours later…**

A former residential quarter of Bakersfield had been changed into an urban combat training field, right next to the other outer installations that had been built it in the remainings of Meadows Field Airport.

Other soldiers were already being coached by officers and the field resonated from the exclamation and orders.

"So that means I have to hide, fire, then run and do it again, right ?" Allison asked.

"Exactly." Carter answered. "What works best on Terminators is this kind of strategy. You hide behind a wall, you shoot, then move to another wall as fast as you can. If they can't lock on you, you get good chances to disorient them and subsequently shoot first. The more you keep moving the better. You stay still, you're a corpse."

"Hm. Okay, let's try !!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and heading for the field. Carter smiled at her enthusiasm, then followed her. She was going to make an even better soldier than he thought…

**72 hours later…**

Allison bent over the deactivated T-633 Infantry Unit. Many of them had been captured by Connor's men and brought back. She had seen several ones that had been reprogrammed in a storing room, and others had their chips destroyed in order to be used as training subjects.

Carter pointed to a small round port located on the left temple. "This is the chip's access port. That's the Terminator's most vulnerable area, at least for these models. You put an armour-piercing bullet in it and you destroy the chip. Game over."

The young future soldier nodded, "So it's… like their brain or something ?"

"Yes, exactly. There are other vulnerable parts that can be damaged and therefore slow them down, like the shoulder servos here…" he pointed to several hydraulic jacks attached to the machine's left shoulder, "…or the back of the neck. It's where their ventilation system is located. It will make the electronics overheat, and force them to disconnect several functions."

"And therefore reduce their efficiency." Allison completed. "It will work only if it's done with piercing bullets, I guess…" she added. "9mm or .45 rounds shouldn't be enough… Not even standard 5.56 rounds… right ?"

"Right." He smiled to her. "Excellent conclusion."

She smiled back. "Hey, I'm not that dumb." She said in a mock offended tone.

"Never said that…" he replied, raising his hands defensively. "It was a compliment."

"Yes ? It didn't look like one."

"Sometimes appearances can't be trusted, you know… Seriously, you're progressing even faster than I'd anticipated. Faster than myself at the time."

Tilting her head to the side, Allison shot him an inquisitive stare. "Really ?"

"Yes, really. Connor won't believe what he's gonna see…"

Allison smiled at the compliment. "Thank you."

Carter patted her shoulder. "You're welcome. Where was I by the way ?"

"Uh… You just told me about the vulnerable area at the back of the neck."

"Oh, yes."

"Being a cyborg doesn't enhance your short-term memory, does it ?"

"It doesn't seem so. You can never have anything you want… And besides, I'm not sure you'd prefer my brain to be a chip. Only this would allow me to have a perfect memory."

"Uh… no, you're right about this."

"Haha, gotcha. I win round one."

Allison frowned and Carter burst out laughing. It took him a few seconds to calm down. "Man, you should see your face ! It's _priceless_ ! I will remember _this_ for a long, long time !"

Allison's face contorted in false anger. "This is_ not_ funny !"

"No it's not." He said, becoming serious again. "You're right. Anyway, about this…" he pointed to the T-633 again. "I think I've told you everything. Now, I'll show you about the T-700, you need to know about his one too."

" 700 ?"

"Yep. The newest model. It's pretty rare for now, but it's still quite dangerous. Come on."

Raising to his feet, he headed for another stretcher, and Allison followed him. Only one day, and she would know.

She just couldn't wait.

26


	27. Chapter 27 : Important decision

Stopping in front of the stretcher, Carter pointed at the metallic endoskeleton laying on it. Allison examined it closely. This one was… different. Sleeker, thinner than any other Terminator she had seen yet. More _human_ in this way. It was clearly designed to infiltrate, not to fight in a battlefield. She was impressed, even a bit fascinated, by it, even if it had been built by the enemy. It was still an extraordinary piece of technology.

"This is… the T-700 ?"

Carter nodded. "Yes. They operate with fake skin, muscles and blood to make them look like humans. They even talk like humans."

"So they disguise themselves…"

"Yes. They're Infiltrators. But… well, they're not flawless. They can only mimic basic human expressions, and it's not very creative. You can easily outsmart it. Besides, they don't move like humans. They're still too stiff and rigid. So it's not very difficult to spot them."

"But when it happens…"

"Well, when it happens usually troubles follow. They're pretty strong and fast, and durable."

"How do you… destroy them ?"

"Same than for the others when possible." Carter answered. "You aim for the left temple. But you need a strong firepower for it."

"Would 5.56 armour-piercing bullets be enough ?"

"Hm, yes, they still can't deflect M995 bullets. But if you can't use this kind of ammo, try to find a .50 machine gun, a grenade launcher or an RPG. Then you can disable it. _But_… one major advice : _never_ let one get close enough to hit you. What I mean is that even 633s are slow, you can evade them quite easily. But those ones won't give you that chance. So… stay away, whatever you can do or not, okay ?"

"I'll remember that." Allison said, nodding. "Skynet's making progress huh ?"

"Yeah. Every day it does. That's the greatest lessons you have to learn about machines. Never _ever_ underestimate them."

**24 hours later…**

John Connor arrived to the endurance field. Basically it was an improvised running track that had been constructed on a flat area. Allison was already dressed with military pants, army boots and ammo pouches on a belt. She was checking her G36KE, and had just released the cocking handle when she saw him.

"So, you're ready it seems."

The young girl lowered her rifle until the barrel was trained at the ground and stared at him defiantly. "Always." She smiled mentally to herself as he stopped on his tracks, apparently impressed. _Guess he's never seen a fourteen-year-old behave like this…_

"Good." he said, grinning. "I want you to run as long as you can on this track. Slow pace, I just want to see your endurance."

"Okay."

"And… keep your rifle on your back."

"Alright."

She then rose to her feet and began running slowly. Connor stood there, using his watch as a timer. Half an hour after it started she was still running at a good pace, and she hadn't even even begun to strain. After a certain amount of time she began to sweat and slowed down. A few laps more, and she stopped. Sweat was trickling from her forehead and she was panting. Her legs felt a little numb, and for one moment she thought she would fall, but quickly recovered her balance.

She sat, exhausted. Connor said, "I'll let you enough time to recover, then we'll go to the shooting range." Allison nodded.

After a few minutes, she got up. "Let's go."

Connor grinned and led her to the shooting range. Several soldiers were already practicing, and gunshots already rang.

"Here." Connor pointed to a stand with a PSG-1 sniper rifle already standing on its bipod. "It's semi-auto. You have five shots."

Allison nodded, put her G36 on the ground then lied on her stomach, seized the rifle and instantly focused on her target.

After centering the cross-sight of the scope a little upon the centre of the target, she pulled the trigger.

_BANG !!_

The shot was deafening, and the recoil was bigger than she had initially thought. The stock literally hit her shoulder, and she flinched a little. She waited a moment before aiming again.

_BANG !!_

Again, she took her time.

_BANG !!_

Allison's right eye didn't leave the telescope. She was completely focused on the small circle she was aiming at.

_BANG !!_

The shot didn't surprise her this time. She lowered the rifle a bit for the last time.

_BANG!!_

A second more, and she released the grip, slowly lowering the weapon.

Then she stood up. "What now ?"

"Follow me."

They walked to the urban training field. Shortly before entering Connor stooped.

"Well, there are six red targets scattered in this field, I won't tell you where. Find them and shoot them, I want you to proceed as fast as possible, but to be as accurate as you can. We'll take those two parameters into account. Alright ?"

Allison nodded, then entered in the field. She ran to the first house, keeping her head as low as possible, like Carter had taught her. Coming to the first house, she backed against the wall, scanning her surroundings quickly but carefully, then reported her attention to the door. She walked to it, and after taking a quick glance, rushed inside.

The wall with the door was the only thing that still stood, the rest had completely collapsed.

She examined everything, searching for anything that would look red, but found nothing. Progressing rapidly among the ruins, she scanned an empty street.

There, near this wall. No mistake. It had a human form and was colored in red. Wasting no time, she aimed and fired a short burst, straight to the head. Then looked around and went away.

Running as fast as possible in the street, she came to the only house that still stood and searched it completely, finding nothing. _Lucky Carter taught me about house cleaning, otherwise I wouldn't be that fast._ she thought as she ran out. Carefully approaching a corner at the back of the house, she poked her head around the angle formed by the wall, and the target was right here. In front of her. Instantly she shot it, almost at point blank range.

_Two down, four to go._

She kept searching and firing until she had located and shot the sixth and last target. Then she got out and went to the area where Connor and his lieutenants were waiting. Carter was also here. They seemed quite stunned as they saw her come to them, but Connot quickly regained his composure, and signaled to one of his men to go inside the field.

Allison sat, switching her rifle's safety back on, and waited.

After a few minutes the officer Connor had sent came back. His commander looked at him expectantly, "So ?"

"All shot in the head, sir." he answered. Allison smiled again in pride. _Wow. First time I impress myself that much. _She looked up at Carter, and saw that he was staring at her proudly. He smiled and she beamed at him.

Then Connor spoke. "Impressive. Carter taught you well, but it seems you're quite the warrior type." he finished jokingly. She laughed lightly and nodded. "Thank you."

"Okay, it's over. I'll discuss with my officers now, evaluate the results in detail, you'll know in about half an hour."

"Okay."

Then Connor walked away with his officers and Carter sat next to Allison. She was a bit nervous, but all in all confident. After all she had done her best… The only thing she could do now was wait. And half an hour was already too much.

**30 minutes later…**

"Do you really think it's gonna be okay ?" Allison asked. She was looking at the three figures walking out of the exit and walking in her , who was sitting next to her, put an arm around her shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry. You did your best, to be honest I'm very proud of you. Of course it's gonna be okay."

Allison smiled back, weakly because she was tensed. Like a schoolgirl waiting for the results of an exam. She knew it was a bit exaggerated, but she really wanted to fight with the others. She didn't want to stay back and let Carter risk his life doing the dirty job. That wasn't her style, and besides she wouldn't bear it. It just wouldn't be fair.

Finally, Connor stopped in front of them.

Allison inhaled deeply.

"Well…"

Her breath suddenly got stuck in her throat and she closed her eyes. _Come on, say it, don't make me wait, just say it for God's sake !!! JUSTSAYIT !!!!_

"… that was impressive, I didn't expect you to do so good."

Her eyes snapped open. _Did he just…. say what I think I heard ?!_ She looked up to him. He was smiling.

"You're in."

……………………………

_I'm in… I'm in… I'm in…. I'M IN…_

_YEESSSSS !!!_ _I'M IN I'M IN I'M IN !!!_

Allison suddenly wanted to leap at him and hug him. That was… _wait… hug him ?! WHAT ?!! _After a few blinks of her eyes, she felt incredibly stupid and ashamed. Connor was a good man, but… but what about Carter ?! He was right here !! She felt her cheeks heating up and knew she was blushing furiously. She lowered her head. All of a sudden she heard Carter burst out into laughter and stared at him. "What ?!"

"I've… I've never… such a face, you should've seen yourself !! The face _and _the red cheeks, oh God… What, did you just want to strangle him in gratitude ?!"

"_Carter !!_"

"Oh, that means you did !!!" he said before laughing even harder.

As she searched for an answer, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking at her right, she saw it was Connor. He smiled again and said, "You're lucky to have someone like him, you know."

She smiled, feeling embarrassed and nodded weakly. "Yeah, I guess so."

Connor's smile widened before he spoke again, "Welcome in the Resistance."

27


	28. Chapter 28 : First Mission

"Alright people, listen up." began Lieutenant Dawson, commander of the 45th Mobile Infantry Battalion of the Resistance. Carter and Allison were sitting among the soldiers and, like them, were listening carefully.

"About two hours ago, our technicians detected the departure of an airborne Skynet patrol from San Francisco which is heading to Skynet Central, in Van Nuys. What we know however is that they were granted with top-priority access codes to Skynet Central.

This happens only when said machines carry something important for Skynet. We don't know anything about it, but we're sure this isn't a diversion. No other patrol has been detected, plus, they use a specific route and their messages are transmitted through Alpha-oh-six emergency channel. In other terms, they're coded and we can't decrypt them.

Three fighter squadrons will be sent from this base and three from Nellis. They will intercept the patrol and force the transporters to land. Our job will be to permanently disable them and bring back whatever they carry as fast as possible. We'll be going with two other infantry battalions and one armoured squadron.

This'll have to be done quick and clean. We go, take what we want and come back here. Understood ? … Excellent. I want you to be ready and all in Hangar Seven in ten minutes. Dismissed !"

Everyone in the room stood up as one and immediately spread. Allison rushed to her room, put her tactical vest and filled the pouches with ammunition before seizing her G36KE , she ran out and caught up with Carter, who was loading the grenade launcher under his Tavor GTAR-21 rifle while walking. He was wearing a new combat dress, with a black tac-vest and a desert camouflage, and a belt filled with 40mm grenades was strapped across his torso.

When he saw her come to him, he flashed a quick smile which she returned.

"So… you ready ?"

"Yeah. More than ever." She answered almost enthusiastically, and her cyborg partner sniggered. "Good… Just remember not to focus too much on what you have to do, just do it. If you keep telling yourself you gotta do this and that, you're gonna screw up."

"I know. Focus on your targets. You keep telling me this."

"You never say that enough."

She smiled wider. "Yes, I know that too. Where's Hangar Seven by the way ?"

"Straight ahead. It's written right here", he said, pointing to a panel on the wall.

"Oh…" She punched him on the arm playfully. "You're making fun of me."

Carter grinned evilly. "Hey, I promised you payback."

A few moments, several jokes and a mutual poking session later, they entered Hangar Seven. Several men were already gathering around fully armoured Humvees and Lieutenant Dawson was loading an XM-177E1 short-barreled assault rifle. Strapping the weapon on her back, she then turned her head toward them and smiled as she saw them. When they came closer she extended her hand toward Allison. "Here comes our youngest soldier ! How d'you feel right now ?"

"Uh… stressed, but I'm okay." she answered, shaking the officer's hand.

"That's good." Dawson replied friendly. "Just…"

"Remember to focus on your targets and not the theory, I know…" Allison said, rolling her eyes. Dawson's eyes widened a bit and she looked up to Carter, who grinned.

"I keep brainwashing her about it…" he said. "All the time."

Dawson laughed. "Brainwashing ?! How barbaric…"

"Um, I guess she prefers me to do the brainwashing instead of a T-700."

The Lieutenant nodded. "Sure, that's much better… Anyway. You will excuse me, duty calls…" With a last smile she walked away. "Alright, is everybody here ?" she said loudly, clapping her hands.

Carter watched her gather her men then climbed in one of the Humvees, Allison sitting right next to him.

"You were looking at her." she said jokingly.

"Who ?"

"Dawson."

"I wasn't staring." he answered in the same humorous tone. "But if you want me to…"

"You do this, I kill you." she instantly replied in a false threatening voice. Carter looked at her. "You sure you can ?"

"Oh _yes_."

"Hmmm… Then I'll choose death." His grin widened.

Allison stared at him, wide-eyed, then hit him on the shoulder. "You… selfish jerk."

Carter smiled even wider, and she sighed. "Alright, you win."

"Again." He added, raising his right index. "This was round two."

The fourteen-year-old brunette made a face, and he laughed again.

**One hour later…**

"This is Alpha Leader, to all units, report." Lieutenant Dawson ordered in her earpiece. The answers came instantly.

"_Bravo Leader, we're in position._"

"_Charlie Leader, everyone's in place._"

"_Delta Leader, in position._"

"Roger that. Unit Charlie, set your Stingers in offensive position, unit Delta, I want your heavy weapons ready to cover us and Bravo."

"_Charlie, copy that, we're deploying the Stingers._"

"_Delta Leader, wilco._"

Dawson switched her earpiece off and turned to her soldiers. "Is everything set here ?"

"Yes sir." came the reply. "We're ready."

When Dawson's battalion arrived near the canyon where the ambush would take place, she instantly had dispatched it in four units which were now hidden in very precise points around a hill. Units Alpha and Bravo had been assigned to take the cargo, while units Charlie and Delta would provide both terrestrial and anti-aircraft cover. The second infantry battalion had been set in a similar way on another hill, the third one was at the back in case the others failed, and the armoured squadron had dispatched and hidden its own vehicles all around to protect the infantry.

Everyone was now ready for battle. Allison was checking her rifle, once again. She didn't want it to jam in the middle of a firefight. Carter was sitting next to her and was observing the surroundings using his enhanced vision. Everything was now silent and still, and the soldiers anxiously waited for _their_ arrival. They didn't like to wait much; the fastest it came the better.

Suddenly Dawson spoke again. "They're coming ! ETA 2 minutes, get ready."

Allison stiffened a bit. For now, every time machines had come they hadn't seen them until the last moment, but now… now they knew they were coming and they had to wait. She didn't like that. It made her nervous. She clutched her weapon and readied herself, cocking it.

The air was thick and it was hot, really hot. She was sweating profusely, but she knew it was partially due to her nervousness. It reminded her of this moment, when Carter and her had to wait in this wooden garage after the passage of a Hunter Killer, both hoping nothing would come to them. There was one major difference however : this time, they could fight, they were here for it. And though she still didn't like the idea of heavy machines coming to them, her determination to fight, to put holes in as many Terminators' head a she could, wasn't even scratched. _No fleeing anymore now, girlie. It's double or nothing this time._

All of a sudden Carter spoke. "They're coming, I hear them…"

"I don't hear anything", another soldier said, looking at him curiously. Carter shrugged. "That's easier with synthetic ears. I'm a cyborg, remember ?" The guy stared at him, and his eyes lit up. "Oh yes, sorry, I didn't…"

"It's okay." Carter replied, grinning. "You don't have a chip as a brain…"

The soldier chuckled, but their exchange was interrupted by another voice. "Shhh ! I hear them now ! They're coming !" He was right. A roar could be heard in the distance, gradually growing louder.

Carter instantly motioned to the soldier to stay silent. He nodded, and both looked upon the rocks. Allison did the same, and after a while they saw them.

They were about a dozen, flying right in their direction. From their shape and size, Allison could say there were two Transporters and four light Hunter-Killers. Three others were heavy ones, and the last vessel was a massive hovercraft she didn't recognize.

"Damn…" Carter whispered next to her. "That's a fucking Gunship !"

"What ?!" a low, female voice rang behind them. "Lewis, you're sure about it ?!"

"I'd recognize it anywhere, Lieutenant." He answered.

"Shit… Charlie Leader, d'you copy ?" Dawson whispered in her earpiece. Then a moment later, "the biggest aircraft, that's an HK Gunship, I have visual confirmation. Ready your Stingers, if the jets don't take it down, you do it. Over and out."

The roar grew louder and louder. The machines were almost over them now.

All of a sudden, the first Hunter-Killers broke their formation and spun away. A second later, a loud whistle rang, and Allison watched as a trail of smoke reached one of the small HKs, causing it to explode and crash. _A missile… the jets !!_

A second aircraft fell to the ground, nearly cut in half by the explosion. Then another roar covered everything. Allison looked up, and saw Resistance F-16 fighter jets swooping over them and engaging the machines in close-combat. A cannon chattered and a third light HK crashed. The surprise attack had worked.

By coming upon them, the jets had remained unnoticed until they fired their missiles. Now the HKs were fighting back, and blue plasma bolts flew here and there, in opposition to the white trails of the tracer shells coming from the planes. One F-16, caught in a crossfire from both a light HK and the Gunship's defensive rapid-fire turrets, exploded. Debris fell to the ground. A second plane, coming behind the small Skynet aircraft, fired a missile on it, blasting it to bits, before disengaging promptly and rocketing as high as possible, putting itself out of range from the Gunship.

Allison shivered. She had never seen such a massive battle before. She had never seen what the war was really like. But it was here, right in front of her. These men in the jets, how many times had they accomplished this kind of mission ? How many made it out since their first flight, how many died already ? She imagined it really was a horrible way to die for pilots like them, stuck in their cockpit, behind metal and glass. Unable to flee, unable to move. She thought it was a bit like being buried alive, except it lasted far shorter for the pilots. Looking at them, at these people in those flying machines risking their lives for humanity, for the future, she felt admiration.

She snapped back to reality when she heard Lieutenant Dawson bark over the radio, "Charlie, the damn Gunship ! Now !!"

Seconds later, a massive explosion rang, covering every other noise for a fraction of second, and, looking at the sky again, the young girl saw the Gunship fall to the ground, its right part completely destroyed. Debris were falling from the vessel, and it was burning. When it crashed, the ground shook under her feet, and the sound was like a volcanic eruption. A huge mushroom of flames and black smoke slowly rose upon the bare land, metal parts flying all around.

She heard some soldiers cheer at her left and grinned lightly. From what Carter had told her the Gunship was the most dangerous ship that was in this patrol. Without it, there was already much less risk.

After a few minutes, every HK was down and the Transporter, which had tried to evade the jets, had their primary engines pummeled with 20mm piercing shells and were forced to land with their passive thrusters.

"Go!! Go!! Go!!" Dawson screamed, and the soldiers leaped to their feet and ran toward the huge vessels. One man knelt, shouldered a SMAW rocket launcher and fired on one of the Transporters, destroying its electronic brain. The others continued to move forward, using rocks and plants as shields, covering each other.

The second Transporter, which was undamaged, opened its landing bays, letting out a batch of T-700 endoskeletons armed with modified M60 machine guns. They instantly deployed and began to fire at the soldiers.

For Allison, the real battle was now beginning.

28

**Well… 28****th**** chapter's up, and I'm starting with wide-scale action here… By the way, I'd like to thank meanoldmoe for his precious advices about action scenes, it helped me a lot. I hope you still enjoy this story.**


	29. Chapter 29 : A Nasty Surprise

As soon as the Terminators opened fire, Carter ducked and crouched behind a rock, then turned his head behind him, searching for Allison. He found her a few meters further, kneeling behind another rock and sighed in relief. He knew she wouldn't have stood up like this in the middle of a firefight, she wasn't stupid, but he was worried. Fortunately, this proved itself pointless. He saw her look at him, and nodded before smiling as reassuringly as he could. She smiled back, and he relaxed. She hadn't lost her cool yet, everything was okay. He knew from experience she hated, even feared, being shot at. Last time it happened she still had trouble dealing with it but it seemed she was over that now.

After a few seconds he carefully looked upon the rock, and saw that the 700s were dispatching. Lifting his rifle, he took aim at one of them and fired a short burst. Right in the skull.

But it didn't have the effect he hoped.

Spark flew out as the bullets bounced off the machine without even scratching it. _What the hell ?! These are M995s, I've… Oh shit. _

He realized what the problem was in an instant. Those 700s were NOT 700s. They had chromed endoskeletons, not standard matt grey ones, and there were… several differences. The arms' actuators were configured differently, the torso was a bit sleeker, with larger jacks. Zooming on one of them, he also noticed the jaw had a different design. _New models ! Fuck !!_

Instantly he crouched back behind his natural shield and his right hand reached his eaerpiece. "Dawson, d'you copy ? Lewis here, Dawson, come in !!"

"_Dawson, copy you Lewis. What's going on ?_"

"Those Terminators are new models, not 700s ! They're different !! My M995 bullets didn't even scratch them !"

"_What ?! New models… Goddammit. Thanks Lewis, over and out._"

Carter cursed. Skynet was progressing faster than he'd thought. Looking back at Allison, he motioned her to stay low. She nodded.

Suddenly, the thunder of heavy automatic weapons rang, and, looking back, Carter saw several Hummvees with full armour and roof-mounted .50 caliber M2 machine guns speeding toward the Transporters. _The Delta Unit, Dawson thought fast. _Instantly he shifted his gaze to the machines. Two of the Terminators had fallen, one had been properly decapitated and the other had his head literally blown off. _Good. Two down, nine to go. _Searching the field he saw one of them coming in their direction. Instantly he raised his weapon and fired the M203 grenade launcher. The 40mm HE grenade exploded right on the machine. Without hesitation, he scanned the battlefield again, and saw that all other Terminators were now facing the Humvees, but none had noticed him. Instantly he jumped upon the rock and ran as fast as he could to the Terminator he just hit. In a matter of seconds he was on it.

The humanoid robot was still functional, but his breastplate was damaged, one of his arms had fallen, and his left leg was a mess. Before it could lift its machine gun, Carter grabbed its arm and twisted it, the machine instantly dropping the weapon. Then he punched it in the chest with all his might, sending it flying backwards. Ignoring the pain of his knuckles, he lunged on the M60 and trained it toward the damaged Terminator before firing. The bullets hit the last functioning arm, which the machine used to shield its own head. The elbow articulation was ripped off by the sheer penetrating power of the 7.62mm tungsten-cored armour-piercing ammunition, but by the time the forearm fell, the robot was already on Carter.

* * *

Seeing the Terminator jump on Carter, Allison didn't hesitate a second. She leaped on her feet, quickly scanned the surroundings and ran to them. The machine was trying to strangle Carter with what remained of its forearm. Allison screamed on the top of her lungs : "HEY, FUCKER !! OVER HERE !!"

The robot turned its head to look at her, and she shot a burst into its eyes almost at point blank range, destroying them both. Sparks flew out, and the now blind Terminator froze for a second. It was enough for Carter to yank his legs free and kick it in the chest, throwing it backwards. Then he lunged at it, grabbed its head with one hand, the neck with the others and twisting with all his strength. A metallic _clank _rang as the machine's neck was snapped.

Then Carter seized the machine gun still lying on the ground, and fired it again, this time blasting the machine's skull into bits for good.

Then he cast a quick glance aside, but the other machines were too far. Allison followed his gaze and saw another Terminator crumple to the ground, cut in half by heavy machine gun fire. She felt this familiar feeling of satisfaction welling inside her. The very same feeling she had already felt when she had destroyed this humanoid Hunter-Killer that attacked them in the village.

"Allison !"

She turned again to face Carter who was now on his feet, the Terminator's weapon still in hand. His face was filled with a mix of admiration and worry. But when he spoke, he was only grateful. "Thanks."

Allison smiled. "You're welcome. But, you know, I couldn't…" her smile faded. "I couldn't leave you with this machine. I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have done this, but…"

"GET DOWN !!"

She felt Carter push her to the ground, and instinctively looked at her left. Another Terminator was standing up, his machine gun raised and ready to fire. The first burst had missed them from inches.

Carter's weapon crackled, but, instead of just standing here, the machine jumped to the side. Only a few bullets hit it, one scratching its skull and another in its left shoulder. But as it prepared to fire back, Carter stood up in front of the weapon, shielding Allison to the bullets that would come. The young girl panicked. He wasn't durable enough for those bullets, he would be ripped in pieces !

"CARTER !! NO !!"

The burst rang, but at the very same moment Allison felt herself hurled at the side. She hit the ground hardly, her own rifle clattering. And she quickly realized what happened. _He threw me aside, he gained time to protect me… _Her left leg was hurting like hell, but she didn't even care about the flesh wounds, or the shots she could have taken. Tears welled in her eyes as she turned back to her savior. "CARTER !!"

_No… I… I can't lose him, not now… Not now…_

But she stopped as she realized he had just disappeared. Allison heard another machine gun burst and a dull _thud_. Shifting her gaze to the origin of the sound, she saw Carter rising back to his feet as the now headless Terminator jerked, stumbled and finally fell.

_What ?! He… he was… what happened ?!_

Again, her cyborg companion shot his weapon, once, twice, then rushed to her. "You okay ? Sorry I threw you like that, it was the only way it would work…"

"What happened ?"

"They hate airborne attacks… Besides, they're too heavy to jump properly." he replied, smirking. And all of a sudden something clicked inside her mind. Carter had no intention to shield the bullets, he just had to wait until the last moment in order to fool the Terminator. And when the time had come he had thrown her out of the trajectory of the projectiles before jumping in the air _and_ shooting it. A swift and quick surprise attack.

He didn't get shot, he never intended to, he was _safe_.

Again, tears came to her eyes. But those were tears of joy.

"Lewis !!" The female voice rang like a gunshot, and Allison jumped. Grabbing her G36 that was right beside her she turned back, ready to fight again, adrenaline pumping in her blood. But it was no Terminator.

Only Lieutenant Dawson and a few men. The female officer looked worried. "Are you alright you two ?" Allison rose to her feet and winced a little. She had a big scratch at her left leg, but that was all, nothing to worry about. "I'm okay, thanks."

"Same for me." Carter added. "We just blasted two of those bastards."

Dawson smiled. "Phew, what a relief ! I have to admit, when one of my men told me you were in the middle of this shit I was pretty worried."

"Thanks then." Carter replied quickly. "It this over ?"

"Well all the tin cans are destroyed, but the second Transporter is sort of locked, we can't open it. And the cargo is not in the first one."

* * *

"Hm. I'm coming, I'll try and see if I can open this door." Carter said.

A few moment later, he came in front of the Transporter's bay, switched his sensors to thermal mode, but nothing was to be found. He sighed. "Okay, get back. And ready your guns, we never know." Several _cha-clicks_ rang, then Carter punched the door with his T-700 arm. The metal bent under the impact, so he hit again. And again. And again.

_BAM !!_ The metal door fell on the ground, and Carter backed a bit. There was no light inside, so he activated his infrared vision again. And immediately he saw it.

A yellow-red form at the bottom of the bay. A yellow-red form that looked damn human.

But… but something just wasn't right. _It can't be a human… its thermal echo is approximately the same and there's a heartbeat… but… still, it's different._

Suddenly, he saw two soldiers brush past him and enter the bay. _Shit ! _"No, wait !! There's something in there !!" he exclaimed.

Too late.

He saw the form move a bit… and understood what was going to happen. All this was obvious. "Get outta here, it's a fucking trap !!"

One of the men turned to him. "What ?"

_SLASH !!_

_SLASH !!_

It happened in a millisecond. Blood splattered on the walls, and the two men fell, both their throats slashed open. The humanoid form was now standing right upon them, its arms crossed in front of its head. Blood was dripping from its hands.

Immediately Carter switched to normal mode.

What he saw sent shivers through his spine.

"What the _fuck_ ?..."

A tall, athletic woman was crouched over the two bodies. She was dressed in a tight black outfit which mirrored her short, black hair. Her skin was pale and flawless, and her face incredibly smooth, with a thin nose and a delicately shaped mouth. She was perfect, and incredibly beautiful. But it was undeniable that she was no human. Her red eyes shone menacingly in the darkness, and her fingers had no nails, but shining metallic claws. She grinned sadistically, baring her long, vampire-like metal teeth.

Carter gulped. _This is going to be fucking bad._

30


	30. Chapter 30 : Not the Only One

Carter did not even have time to raise one arm.

The woman moved so fast he only saw a blur, and less than a second later something hit him with tremendous strength. He flew against one of the Hummvees with so much force that the armour bent under the impact and the windows shattered. He got back up quickly with the impression to have been hit by a train. Every bit of his body ached and he had difficulties to stay on his legs. "Dammit… Dawson, fall back !" he yelled. "I'm the only one that can fight it, fall back, now !!"

Then he ran forward. His enemy was standing over a twitching body. She had just slit another soldier's throat. "HEY !!" he called. "_I_ am your adversary, bitch, don't you dare ignore me !!"

The woman turned her head toward him and smiled again. Carter saw her move toward him and instinctively raised both his arms to protect his face and throat. A blow landed on his left arm, another on his chest, a third on his right leg and a last on his right hip. He fell on his knees, sharp splinters of pain surging again. _Damn, she's fast ! I'm gonna look like shit when it'll be over… If I ever make it out alive._ He tried to attack, punching her with his right fist, but when it seemed to reach its target she had already dodged. Her foot crashed on his face, and he collapsed again. The metallic taste of blood had invaded his mouth, and he spat a mouthful of crimson red liquid on the dust. _Ahh, fuck. This REALLY hurts._

Suddenly he felt himself lifted from the ground, and his body hit the Hummvee again. The woman was now holding him by the throat. She was still smiling, and her red orbs seemed more threatening than ever. Slowly she leaned forward until her face was inches from his. And then she spoke. In a soft, mellow tone.

"You… are the traitor. Carter Lewis, Series HI-660 Infiltrator, gone rogue the 24th of August 2022. My master told me about you."

"Oh yes ? I'm honored." he choked out.

"You have been targeted for termination by my master."

"Well it's not for today." Carter spat, before his left leg connected with her chin. Her grip instantly loosened as she tripped back and fell. Carter landed on his feet, then lunged at her, punching her head with his T-700 arm, then lifting her with both his arm, and, screaming a bloodcurdling war cry, threw her to the ground with all his might. The shock was so strong that the woman's body literally dug a hole in the rock. But, before he could attack another time, she swung her legs in his chest, sending him backwards again.

And, like if nothing happened, she rose up. Her face was all dirty and blood trickled from her mouth and nose. She wiped it with her hand, before looking at him and tilting her head aside… this sadistic smirk coming to her lips again.

"Oh… shit." Carter muttered, shortly before her claws slashed through his face. Then another swing in his left cheek. He rose his arms, trying to block, but she swiped them away. And all of a sudden he felt like his face just exploded. He flew backwards, hitting the Humvee with such force that the vehicle fell to its side, throwing Carter higher. When he finally hit the ground, another _thud_ rang inches from him. Instantly he rolled on his back, using his arms to get back up.

He instantly ran a diagnostic of his systems. His HUD scrolled with data while he regained his composure.

[Analyzing… LEFT ARM DAMAGED (ULNA DAMAGED)

MAXILLA DAMAGED

LEFT ZYGOMATIC BONE DAMAGED

WARNING : REPAIR IMPOSSIBLE ; PROCEED TO SKYNET MAINTENANCE GRID

_Great. Now my fucking skull's damaged, I couldn't ask for better. _

"You are wounded. You shouldn't fight anymore."

_Arrrgh, will you shut up ?_

He stared at the woman who was still looking at him. Smiling. Always smiling.

He _hated_ this smile. He just wanted to wipe it out her face forever.

"You think I'm gonna die on my knees, huh ? Well if that's what you're waiting for…" he rose up and spat to her feet. "… go fuck yourself."

"…. Then I'afraid I'll have to-"

RATATATATATA !!!

All of a sudden the woman stumbled back under the impacts of high-power bullets. She stared behind Carter with a stunned look and wide eyes as several projectiles hit her on the chest and stomach, blood splashing out of the exit wounds and of her open mouth.

Finally she collapsed to the ground, and the deafening crackle of the machine gun stopped. Cartridge cases clicked on metal, and the air was filled with the smoke of powder and blood.

Carter turned back to see…

"Allison !!"

The young girl was standing behind an M240B machine gun on the roof of a Resistance Hummvee. Her face was distorted with uncontrollable rage and her breathing was ragged.

She jumped on the vehicle's roof, then down on the ground. She stood here for a moment, shaking violently, then bared her teeth, and yelled as loud as she could : "Don't you DARE fuckin' touch him, BITCH !!!"

Carter took a step back as she screamed. He had never seen her that angry. So angry she looked ready to tear the woman apart piece by piece with her bare hands.

"Allison…" he said again, in a softer voice. Her brown eyes focused on him as she seemed to snap out of her trance, and he barely saw her run to him before she wrapped her arms around him and burst violently into tears. He pulled her closer, caressing her hair with his right hand.

She cowered against him. Her whole body was trembling, and she looked like she would just shatter and fall to pieces if he let her go.

Carter had a knot in his throat. She had saved his life, again. Twice in a few hours. He knew she was still afraid. This damn bitch… she had been closer from killing him than anything else, maybe except the consequences of the explosion when the Resistance showed up. And she had _seen_ it. With her own eyes. That was much more that what she could bear, this he was certain of. _Poor girl… I made her so worried… I hope she'll forgive me._ he thought, and for the first time since years he felt tears flow down his cheeks.

"I-I can't… I can't lose you… I just can't… I'm sorry…" Allison whispered, her head buried in his shoulder.

With these words, full of fear and shame, but more than anything else, of love and devotion, the knot finally untied. And Carter spoke.

"What are you sorry for ? You… you saved my life… again. I should be asking you to forgive me… I took all the risks… I should say I'm sorry…"

A moan rang behind them. A low, painful moan.

Carter froze, and slowly turned his head.

His eyes widened.

The woman was still alive. Despite taking a dozen of 7.62 mm Full Metal Jacket rounds, she was still alive.

She stared at her own chest, then to them… and smiled. "That was… a courageous attempt. But, I'm afraid it will not be enough…" Then her face contorted in pain and she hissed, as one of the bullets popped out of the wound and fell on the ground.

_Clink._

Carter could not believe what he was just seeing. This… was far beyond everything he could imagine. _She ain't a robot, and doesn't have an endoskeleton, how can she do that ?!_

_Clink._

_Clink._

To his side, Allison cried out "NO !!" and rushed behind the Humvee again. The woman immediately reacted. "Oh, no, you're not hurting me again !!"

Carter didn't have time to move as she jumped at an incredible height, and landed directly on the Hummvee, ripping the machine gun from its support with no effort, and training it on the girl.

* * *

Allison stared at the black mouth of the weapon's barrel, then at the ruthless red eyes that she had once feared so much. But now… Now she was frightened, but not by them. She just did not want to die here and now. She did not want to be pulled apart from Carter.

Tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the woman. She was powerless and she knew it. And she was only a muscle's contraction from death. Only a muscle's contraction from loneliness. She would never see him again. He would never see her again. She didn't even want to imagine his suffering. She knew he would suffer horribly.

She saw the woman's finger tighten on the trigger, and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do… nothing. She would be shredded in a matter of milliseconds.

It was unavoidable.

BANG !!

A wet splashing sound rang, and Allison heard the sound of a body crashing to the ground.

Not hers… Nothing had hit her, she felt no pain…

Slowly, very slowly, she opened her eyes.

The woman was down again. Her torso had been nearly ripped in half and she seemed unconscious.

She looked up as someone landed on the Hummvees'roof. She instantly recognized him.

"Carter !!"

The wounded cyborg was looking down at her. He had a still smoking .50 caliber heavy sniper rifle in his hands. He grinned. "About time I arrived, huh ?" He then jumped down, near the woman's body, and pressed the rifle's barrel to her head. "Time to end this. I doubt she'll sustain a Raufoss round in her fucking brain."

"Raufoss…"

The voice was nearly inaudible. Barely a whisper. Allison jumped, and saw the woman stir lightly. She shivered. That was insane ! The woman had just taken a large-caliber, high-power round in the torso and yet she could still speak.

"Mark 211 Model 0 Armour-piercing/Incendiary round… Contains a .30 caliber tungsten penetrator, zirconium powder, and Composition A explosive… You're right. I… I wouldn't sustain it."

"Well that's good news. Say hello, my friend here wants to greet you." Carter replied venomously, before beginning to apply pressure on the trigger. But, suddenly, he stopped. Allison looked at him, confused. He had still his eyes trained on the woman, but he seemed… curious. He was hesitating.

_Why ?_ she thought. _Why does he hesitate ? She did not…_

When he spoke again, his voice was softer, somehow compassionate. "You were a human once… like me, weren't you ?"

Allison suddenly understood, and felt admiration grow inside her. Despite what happened, despite the wounds and fear, he was still trying to save as much as he could.

The woman laughed and coughed, spitting a mouthful of blood. "Of course not. I'm no human. I'm not born. I've been designed, engineered and _programmed_. Like any creation of Skynet. Except one… you."

Carter nodded slowly and said darkly, "I see. Well, then there's no point in trying to change your mind like I changed mine."

"No", she replied. "It's impossible. I've been conditioned for this."

"Too bad. Goodbye then."

BANG !!

The bullet penetrated her skull at point blank range and detonated, splattering brain matter and blood everywhere. For the first time Allison did not look away. The gruesome sight of a head blowing up still shocked her, of course, but she had seen much already. And she knew it was far from being over. She would see many other things like that. Unlike before, she wasn't running. She was in the middle of a war, and in war, people got killed. That was obvious. She would just have to get used to it.

She watched Carter bend over her body and scan the remainings of the woman's head. She heard him comment loudly, "No chip… Cybernetic interface, but no clue of a chip… Probably an experimental neural net, maybe nanotechnology."

Then he stood back up. "I don't think she's gonna get up again now… d'you still have your earpiece, I don't know where mine is, and besides it must be in pieces."

Allison stared at him, then… "Oh, yes, my earpiece… I have it."

"Okay, I'm gonna investigate the rest of the Transporter. If there were another like this one he would already be out. Radio Dawson and tell her to bring her men back here, we gotta finish this."

"Alright."

* * *

Carter turned back to the vessel that was still here. Lifting his rifle he ran back to it, ready to shoot anything that would come out.

But there was no movement. He entered in the cargo bay and switched to thermal vision again, scanning each square centimeter of the area. He discovered nothing but a door in the bottom of the bay. He broke it open and crept inside, his weapon trained forward… and gasped.

Two women were lying in amniotic tubes against the rear wall, each one having needles connected to their arms, legs, temples and back. They were physically as perfect as the one he just shot, but were different nonetheless. One had long, chestnut hair and the other had blond ones. And their faces were different. Both had these metallic claws on their fingertips, and he deduced they were other biological assassins like her. Prototypes of a specific series, he guessed. _So that's the so-called cargo… Huh. Dunno if we can do anything with that._

When he heard steps on the metallic ground of the bay he turned around. Dawson and five other men, all armed to the teeth, were coming to him. The officer trained her flashlight on him and sighed in relief when she recognized him. "Lewis, thank God you survived. I thought that bitch would tear you apart !"

"Well it's quite difficult given the fact that a Raufoss round just exploded in her brain. Dawson, she's not the only one in her kind." He said, pointing to the tubes.

The red-haired Resistance soldier slowly walked to the tubes. "Two others. That was what we were suppose to find I guess."

"Yep. The first one was active, it must've been assigned to their protection or something. D'you really think we should bring them back ?"

Dawson shrugged and answered, "Orders are orders. Winston!!"

A soldier, who Carter knew was an electronic specialist, immediately answered. "Sir ?"

"I need you to examine those tubes and see if they can be taken away without triggering anything, we'll try to bring them with us."

"I'm on it." Winston answered. Immediately he walked to the tubes and began to inspect them carefully, searching for any connection with the vessel. Dawson turned to Carter. "I know you don't like it, but Connor might be able to do something with them. Besides, if we can't take them, then we'll destroy them."

The cyborg nodded and stared back at her. "I just hope everything's gonna be alright."

30


	31. Chapter 31 : Interrogation

**Here I come again… I'm really sorry for the waiting, but writing three stories at once isn't exactly easy. I just took some time for the others. Anyway, I'd like to thank the people who read and reviewed my story, I hope you'll still like it!**

"Sir."

Lieutenant Dawson turned her head toward Winston who just called. "Yes ?"

"The tubes are completely autonomous; we can bring them back without even waking up the clones or triggering anything."

"Good." Dawson replied. "Then let's do it." She ran outside the transporter and called for her men. Carter, however, came closer and asked Winston, "Nothing to disconnect? No radio connection, no bug?"

"Nope, nothing. You can take one. With your strength, I'm sure you could lift it."

"My left arm's damaged, so I don't think it's wise; I just wanted to be sure."

"Oh. Okay, then." Winston then left, as four men came and lifted one of the containers, carrying it on their shoulders. _Odd_, Carter thought, _it looks like they're carrying a coffin_.

This idea seemed somewhat humorous in such a situation.

_Maybe that's what one would call cynicism_.

He shrugged and watched the men load the container inside an M3A3 Bradley infantry combat vehicle. Once it was done they went for the other. "Hurry up people, reinforcements are certainly on their way !" Dawson exclaimed.

Once the two containers were loaded, the men climbed in the vehicles and the resistance troops left, leaving nothing but devastation and chaos behind them.

Carter was sitting next to Allison in Dawson's Hummvee, rubbing his left arm. Fortunately the wound was not critical. In fact, the biggest problem was his skull, because if it was bent, to repair it would be extremely difficult if not impossible. _Lucky it's only the jaw and maxilla, and not the sphenoid or frontal bone. At least my brain didn't take the damage or I'd be _really_ fucked up._

"Carter ?"

Allison's voice was more than enough to express her concern. He turned to her.

"Huh ?"

"Are you alright ?"

He stared at her for a moment, keeping his face neutral as he thought, _Damn… If she keeps worrying like that, and not caring about herself, she's gonna get killed… _

He flashed her a reassuring smile. "Yes, I'm okay. Don't worry about it, I'll get it… fixed once we arrive at the base."

She kept glancing at him, them lowered her gaze and smiled back. "Okay."

**3 hours later…**

Allison watched as Curtis, the head technician, examined Carter's left arm. "Hm. The jack is disengaged, and it seems the bone is cleft. This can be easily repaired, I'll just… Hey Dent, get me a 35-millimeter diameter jack, two 12-millimeter bolts and a T-700 elbow control processor, will you ? And I'll need the fusion torch, and a magnetic screwdriver."

The technician named Dent nodded and walked away. Allison looked at Carter who was once again attached to the wall of the maintenance lab. He had been sedated, his eyes were closed, and if she did not know what had happened, she would have sworn he was in a coma. He looked peaceful like that. She had never seen him like this.

It made her smile.

"Excuse me..."

Glancing backwards toward the origin of the voice she saw a technician pushing a big wagon and she stepped aside. The man stopped the wagon right next to Curtis who nodded and picked a tool on it. "Good, so… let's begin with the jack. Dent, I need your help with this."

Dent came to his side and nodded before crouching. "Alright, I unlock the damaged jack and you put it away, then you help me with the new one, understood ?"

"Yes sir."

Curtis then seized the magnetic screwdriver and began to unlock the broken mechanism. After fifteen minutes securing the attachments and the connectors to the new jack they locked it in place, adjusted it and tested it with an electronic controller.

"Good, this is done, it functions properly. Now, we'll need to see the skull… Jackson, call the surgeon, we'll need him here."

"Yes sir."

Curtis then noticed Allison standing in front of them and said, "His skull's damaged, we'll have to cut through his face's skin. I don't know if you do want to see this…"

The young girl stared at him for a moment and shivered. "You're right, I don't want it." she said with a small smile before turning on her heels and walking away. She had seen many ugly things, some much worse, but… she just wasn't sure if she could bear it.

To see Carter's _other_ face, the face she knew much too well.

The face of a Terminator.

**73 hours later…**

Configuring… SERIES THI MODEL 660 INFILTRATOR REBOOTED

FACTORY DEFAULT MODE

WARNING : UNIDENTIFIED COMPONENTS DETECTED

[Adjusting controls…

CONTROLS ADJUSTED; MOTOR STRUCTURE 100% OPERATIONAL]

Carter blinked several times and reflexively moved his fingers and arm. He then carefully tried to sit up. No pain, nothing. _Good. Seems I'm fully… fixed now…_

Curtis was here, watching silently. Carter glanced at him and asked, "Is it done ?"

"Yes", he answered. "Your skull's fixed too; fortunately the flesh and brain weren't damaged, so it was easier than we first thought. Oh, and we also made some improvements to your structure."

"Improvements, what kind ?"

"Well, since we know you fight with other machines but you're not as strong as them we figured a superior speed and a lower weight would be an advantage. You said it yourself, if I remember correctly."

"Yeah, I did…" he trailed off, realizing what Curtis meant, and slowly a grin came to his mouth. "You lightened my components."

"Exactly", the head technician answered, smiling back. "We replaced your T-700 arm with a new one we've been working on for a while now… It's made of a fiberglass/nickel alloy and the servomechanisms are aluminium, but the joints and knuckles have additional diamond coverings. The jacks on your legs and left arm have been replaced with aluminium models as well, but the strategic areas are well-protected. You lost about 7 pounds with all this."

Carter's smile had grown wider and wider as he listened to Curtis. "Great… Thanks Curtis, that's hell of a lot better with this. I owe you one."

Curtis waved off, "No, I just did my job that's all. Anyway, Connor wanted me to wait for you to wake up, he needs you."

"Why ?"

"Because the clones we captured are awoken. Connor will interrogate them and he wants you to be here."

The cyborg stood up. "Alright, lead the way."

A few moments later carter came inside an old missile silo. There, in the middle of it, restrained by chains and armoured bracelets around their arms, legs, torsos and heads, the two artificial beings were staring almost defiantly at their captors. Connor was in front of them with his wife and one man, four reprogrammed T-650s training .50BMG caliber rifles on their heads. Connor turned to Carter as he arrived, and smiled. "Good to see you're awake", he said with his low and drawling voice. The cyborg grinned back. "Thanks. Glad I'm still here too."

Then he turned to the clones. Connor did the same and, looking at the brown-haired woman, asked: "What are you ? What is your designation ?"

The woman smiled and asked back, "Why should I answer this ?"

"Because there's nothing else you can do…" Carter said calmly. The woman turned her gaze at him, then said lower, almost in a whisper, "You…"

"Yeah, too bad I'm still alive, huh ? Besides, if you wanna know, _I_ blew your friend's head off. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust and amen and all that…"

The woman stared at him curiously. "What is that supposed to mean ?"

"Okay, let's make a deal", Carter answered, ignoring her question and smiling. "I answer your question, you answer mine. A trade. Does it look fair to you ?"

The assassin laughed. "You are trying to confuse me. It will not work."

"Maybe, maybe not… Anyway, what are you trying to prove ? That you still have a chance to get out of here ?"

The woman did not even blink. "Of course not. You are going to kill me, this I know. But I will not talk."

"Hmm…" Carter fell silent, then turned to Connor. "I don't think she's gonna crack whatever you do, you'd better get rid of her now. She's gonna be of no use."

"We should try." he replied stubbornly. Carter sighed and turned back to them. "Okay… then we still can try this. I don't like that but I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice." he said, before seizing a .50 Automag V handgun lying on a table next to them, and fired one shot in the woman's left kneecap. She winced and a gasp of pain escaped her lips. The blonde-haired woman next to her stared at Carter with wide eyes.

Shocked, Connor and his wife turned to him: "What are you doing ?!"

"Trying to make them talk." Carter said, watching the being grunt as her knee began to heal. Carter remembered that when the woman he had fought was healing from her bullet wounds she seemed to be in pain. Apparently the accelerated healing was painful, maybe more than the wound itself.

The brown-haired woman's knee had not finished to fully heal and Carter did not wait for it as he shot it again in the same exact place. This time she yelped loudly. He had guessed right. Two or three bullets more and she would be screaming. Maybe _this _way would work finally.

He then asked "Still don't remember ?"

The woman stared at him, her forehead sweating from the pain and hatred in her eyes. "I will _not _talk." Carter sighed and shook his head. "Alright." He then fired for the third time, still in her left knee. She yelped again, blood splashed out of the wound again and Carter grimaced. He _hated_ torture, but she left him with no other issue. He knew other tactics would not work. Again the knee began to heal and the woman arched her body, moaning in intense pain. Her eyes were closed and her teeth bared as she struggled against the suffering. A disgusting noise rang as the just reconstructed bones snapped back into place. The blonde was staring between her and Carter and her lips were trembling, she seemed a bit afraid of what was going on. Apparently none of them had learned to withstand pain.

"I… will not _talk_ !!" the brunette hissed, and Carter shook his head and shot her for the fourth time. This time she let out a scream. And it all began again. The wet sound of the flesh healing at an incredible speed, the joint reconstructing…

Carter felt like he was about to throw up. But he would _not _stop. He would continue until Connor ordered to kill her or until she cracked.

He shot his fifth round before she even had time to recover from the pain, and a loud yell rang. _Goddammit… I swear, after this I will never, _ever _do this kind of thing again. Whatever Connor says about it._

"What are you ?!" he screamed, furious against her for being that stubborn, and against himself for doing… this. She was shaking, tears rolling on her cheeks, letting out cries of sufferance.

Carter swore under his breath before raising the gun again, but her shaky voice interrupted him. "S-specialized Assassin Unit series GE-755…"

"Are there others like you ?"

"N… no… we are prototypes… mass production was not envisioned, just small series…"

"So you weren't designed for infiltration ?" Connor asked.

"No… we are designed to fight on open battlefields…"

"Why were you on this Transporter ?"

"I… we were supposed to be tested by Skynet's Central Core and prepared for the final phase of the training…"

Connor and Carter stared at each other. "So these weren't operational yet…" All of a sudden an idea came to the cyborg and he turned back to her. "The first one, that was awake… she seemed more trained. Why did…"

"She was assigned to our protection…" the blonde-haired answered. "She underwent a basic training, it was supposed to be just enough for defence…"

Carter nodded. "Okay. Now what d'you know about Skynet itself ?"

The brunette looked up at him. "Nothing. He did not tell us, we were not supposed to know… We don't know anything else."

He nodded again. "Yeah, I expected this… Well, that's better than nothing. Two last questions. Will Skynet continue the production even if it couldn't test its prototypes ?"

"No, it will have to engineer new ones, final tests were not done yet…"

"Right. And where's the facility where you were… engineered ?"

"Salinas… there is an underground facility in Salinas."

Carter threateningly raised the Automag again, and the woman said as fast as he could in a scared voice: "It's the truth, I'm telling the truth, I swear !!"

The cyborg nodded on last time then turned to Connor. "Seems our next mission is already planned…"

Connor looked at him, and nodded back "Yes." Then he turned to the clones. "We will need some intel about this facility."

31


	32. Chapter 32 : Here Come The Parasites

The dull _whomp-whomp _of the rotor blades and the whine of the turbines covered almost every other sound inside the MH-47G Chinook helicopter. And since everyone was silent there was not much to hear, maybe except the _click_ of switches being toggled by the pilots and, sometimes, of their voices when talking through the radio.

Since the interrogation of the two Skynet assassins, Connor and his men were able to partially figure out the defense scheme of the installation, and five hours later six infantry battalions, which consisted of 40 men each, were summoned to the airport. Dawson's battalion, in which Carter and Allison had been affected, was one of them.

Now they were en route to the Bionic Experimental Research Laboratory 75865-Beta-544, as the clones had said it was designated. It was a well-defended objective, and there was no doubt that even with the support of the reprogrammed T-650 units losses would be inevitable. But the men were ready and determined. Sure, Skynet could build another lab somewhere, but it would take time. Enough to slow down its researches.

This was already a good thing.

Carter and Allison were sitting near the rear ramp, the young brunette checking her G36KE rifle. She did not pay attention to anything but the task she carried on. And when a hand (which she knew wasn't Carter's because he was on the opposite side) touched her leg, she rudely hit the guy in the nose with her elbow, not even looking at him or reacting to his pained yelp.

_Damn this stupid hormonal teen ! _she thought, anger briefly clouding her delicate features. _It's been _four _goddamned days he tried to get my attention, and… Who the heck does he think he is ?!_

She quickly finished to check the weapon, then turned to the young soldier. It was time to make things clear. He was looking at her with surprised and hurt eyes, blood dripping from his nose. Looking like a victim. Again. It seemed to be his favourite tactic.

Exasperated, she grabbed him by the collar of his tac-vest. He was three years older than her but she did not care. Hell, she had faced worse, even when her enemies were not machines. "Now listen to me you idiot," she hissed in a low, dangerous voice, her eyes throwing daggers, "I _already_ had someone in my life before I even met you, it's still the case and you're nothing close to him. So you'd better drop it right now unless I let you to deal with him. And… you touch me again… and _I _will beat the shit out of you no matter if you plead for mercy. Did I make myself clear ?"

The teen gulped under the sudden display of aggressiveness, but did not respond. She violently threw him against the metal wall and growled, "I asked you a question shithead !"

He nodded frantically, and she released him, throwing him a last murderous glance. "Good."

Then she sat back, completely indifferent to him, acting like if he did not exist.

The soldiers sitting in the back were all staring at her incredulously, but again she did not pay attention. Then she heard Carter whisper in her ear, "That was quite a show." She chuckled. "But at least I think you've made your point clear. Good job."

She turned at him, he was smiling. She grinned back and gave him a quick kiss. "Thanks."

"He's your guy ?!"

They both turned to the teen who was looking at them both with a rather horrified expression on his face.

"Yes." Allison said, throwing him a death stare. "Don't push it, otherwise…" She trailed off, leaving the consequences to his imagination. He gulped again and nodded, now looking utterly scared. Carter burst out laughing and hugged the girl. "Now _that _was priceless. You're my heroin, you know that ?"

She hugged him back. "Well now I do."

He was about to reply when Allison's earpiece crackled. "_ETA to target five minutes. Get ready, it won't last."_

* * *

Carter had heard the message as well. He nodded to her, she nodded back, then seized his GTAR-21 and racked it, before loading an M386 40mm High Explosive grenades in the underbarrel M203 launcher.

He heard the young soldier wail plaintively, "Why do you break my heart like that?"

It was his time to glare at him menacingly. Seeing this, the teen cowered against the wall and shut his mouth. Allison sighed and whispered, "Thanks. I really thought I was going to shoot him."

Five minutes later, the chopper landed, and the ramp opened. Dawson immediately ran outside, screaming "Go! Go!"

Carter followed, and an instant later they were in the middle of a battlefield. The Resistance helicopters were landing everywhere, dropping off the troops they transported and taking off instantly after. Planes were streaking in the sky, bombing the lab's antennas and sensor turrets. But the machines had reacted very quickly and the defense grid was already deploying. The anti-aerial quad-guns, typical from Skynet, were deployed and firing in every direction, saturating the sky with 30mm tracer bullets. One A-10 ground attack plane got hit in the middle and exploded instantly. Two Huey helicopters crashed down, their engines destroyed and a third one was literally disintegrated in mid-air, caught in crossfire from three turrets simultaneously.

On the ground, about twenty of the new Terminators, which were now known to be T-740s, were spreading on the battlefield and engaging the infantry. Several Type 380 Ground Support Hunter-Killers, massive, heavily armoured humanoid machines with no arms, a repeating rocket launcher and a machine gun, were supporting the Terminators with their high-powered weapons. And already people were falling.

_Now this is bad. If we don't take the Ground HKs down we won't end this till night._ Carter thought. _I've gotta do something._ Recalling how Allison had destroyed one of those he ran behind a big metallic pipe and scanned the battlefield. Soon he saw one of the HKs walking toward another group. He crouched and, zooming on the machine with his computerized vision, carefully aimed for a small gap between two armour plates in the chest, then fired a burst. Three bullets, no more.

It worked. The HK went stiff, stumbled on its tracks and fell to the ground. Carter grinned to himself. _Good. Now to the others. _He turned to Allison. "I'll take care of the HK, I need you to cover my back !!" She nodded and followed him as he ran. A shell exploded near them, he felt the blast slap him and almost fell, but he regained his balance and kept running until he was behind another pipe. Looking back, he saw that Allison was still with him, and breathed a sigh of relief. She was scanning the terrain behind him, her rifle shouldered. Satisfied, he took another glance on the other side of the pipe. Three HK were advancing in tight formation, escorted by five T-740s. _Damn. They're too numerous, if I shoot one HK the others will spot me… and given the firepower they have I won't last for long. And 40mm grenades don't work on the HKs… I can't do that alone._

Quickly he reached for his earpiece, "Dawson, Lewis here, come in!"

The reply promptly came. "_Lewis, where are you ? What's your situation ?_"

"I'm alright for now, Allison's with me, she's okay too, but I've spotted a group of three Ground HKs and five 740s, I'll need some support !"

"… _I see them. I'm sending a unit now. Stay where you are, try to keep them on the spot._"

"Right, I'm waiting!" With that he turned to Allison, "Dawson's sending reinforcement! We need to pin those HKs where they are so they can take them down!"

"I'm going at the antenna!" she replied, pointing to a huge communication array a few meters away. It was large enough for three soldiers to take shelter. He nodded, understanding what she was planning.

Crossfire. That would be enough to mark them as a priority threat. _Clever girl._ he thought, grinning as she ran behind the antenna.

Once she was in position, he carefully picked his targets and fired the M203 right in the middle of the group. The explosion raised a cloud of smoke and dust. Carter did not wait for it to dissipate, he fired a short 5.56mm burst then crouched behind the pipe.

He was right. The sound of bullets hitting the metal immediately rang, some whizzed right where his head used to be a second ago. The machines' reaction had been almost immediate.

He walked a bit further from Allison and carefully peeked upon the pipe.

His grenade had the desired effect. One of 740s had his right leg ripped off and was limping on the ground. The other machines had regrouped and were now ready to fight back, three 740s stumbling back on their feet. One saw him, and he shot, this time aiming for the eyes. The HK froze shortly before its shoulder-mounted machine gun began to fire randomly.

He heard Allison's G36 crackle and two 740s turned in her direction. _Excellent. Now they're starting to get confused._ He ran to another position and fired again. An HK shot a rocket at him. His eyes widened and he ducked. The projectile streaked right above the pipe and impacted about ten meters further. _Phew, that was close. _ Again, he ran a bit further, and another burst rang from Allison's position.

_BOOM !!_

The explosion was way too loud to have been caused by an HK's rocket.

Carter poked his head above the huge pipe again… and immediately understood.

Two of the HKs were lying on the ground, their torso completely shattered; only one remained operational, though his machine gun was destroyed. Another T-740 had no more torso. But, more important, he could see behind them six armed men, one carrying an RPG-32 "Hashim" Russian rocket launcher on his shoulder. Another one put the bipod of an M240 light machine gun on a metal pod emerging from the ground and began to fire at the remaining machines, properly decapitating a 740 and blasting another's chestplate, pulverizing his power cell.

_Great timing guys. _Carter grinned and raised his GTAR-21. The 740 which had lost a leg thanks to Carter's grenade was slowly crawling toward the tube. He shot it in the eyes, then did the same on the remaining HK, which was completely destroyed a second later when another rocket hit it in the back.

* * *

The Hunter-Killer was instantly shattered in pieces by the explosion, and Allison grinned. She took a kind of sadistic pleasure to see machines being destroyed. _Man, I _love_ to see those things reduced to crumbs._ She scanned the field. None of the machines was looking at her so she picked an M67 fragmentation grenade from her belt, pulled the safety clip, and while maintaining the lever in place, pulled the pin, and released the lever which instantly fled off. _3 seconds…_

_S_he tossed the grenade, yelling "Frag out !!" as she was taught to.

_2…_

She crouched behind the antenna.

_1…_

The explosion was much louder than she had anticipated and she cringed a little. After a short moment she carefully peeked behind the antenna.

_Wow. M67, you're my new friend._ she thought, smiling mischievously.

The steel splinters released by the grenade had torn off a 740's head and cut another in half. The only remaining one was still crawling on the ground, but several 7.62mm Armour-Piercing bullets burst through its skull and it instantly went limp.

In parallel, the Resistance was progressing everywhere; the ground teams had proceeded to destroy several anti-aircraft turrets, leaving a gap in the grid that the A-10 Warthogs had quickly fulfilled, blasting the remaining guns with Mk84 Paveway II laser-guided bombs or AGM-65G Maverick air-to-ground missiles. On the ground, the Terminators and HKs, too few and too grouped to efficiently stop the Resistance troops which were dispatched on a wide scale, were quickly obliterated.

The large hole dug by the bunker-buster bomb that had been lodged prior to the attack was quickly surrounded and secured by the Resistance troops. After a perimeter was formed the first soldiers set cables for descent, and soon they were launching themselves under the surface.

Carter and Allison followed Dawson inside the hole. And while descending to whatever was under their feet, Allisons's lips curled into an evil smirk as she thought, _Careful Skynet, here come the parasites._

32


	33. Chapter 33 : A Metal Dream

**Alright, so… I'****m going to try an experiment in this chapter. I just had an idea and wanted to transpose it on the story, it may be a complete trash, and if it is please tell me, I'd like you to be honest. I hope it will work… If it does I **_**may**_** reiterate. Just tell me what you think about this, please.**

**At the same time…**

**Shmidtovsky District, Chukotka, Russia**

Even before Judgment Day, Mys Shmidta Airport, a former military airport built for intercontinental bomber flights, had been prepared for its future activities by… visitors. Inhuman visitors.

Skynet had immediately laid its hands on it several weeks after Judgment Day, deeming it as a priority strategic objective. Since them, it had transformed the airport in a special research base, with the airfield used for freighters.

And today an unusual activity was taking over the airfield. Huge carrier trucks came to a halt near the tarmac before their cargo was unloaded under the watchful eyes of about thirty T-740s and as many T-1s. A few dozens of meters away the freighter was waiting.

And it was not the usual model used by Skynet. In fact it was not even built by it.

This did not go unnoticed by the two humans lying in a small shelter in the snow, watching the base from afar, out of range of the surveillance.

"Hey Yuri, look over there…" one of the men said.

The other came, oriented his digital binoculars the first man was pointing, and gasped. "This is…"

"Yeah, that's the one and only. It seems Skynet has brought it here and made it unmanned."

"_Tchort_…I wonder what the hell those machines are up to. What do they want to do with this ?"

"Now that's a good question, we should head to the base and report now."

"Hey, why d'you think we have a radio !?"

"For emergency only, _durak_! You know Skynet can intercept our transmission and locate us! Don't tell me you don't remember what happened to the last group that used it only for a report ?"

"… Hmph."

"Better. Now, we're heading back, _Kapral_, that's an order."

"Yes sir", the man named Yuri said, raising a hand in mock salute. His superior snorted and they packed their supplies before leaving.

After one hour walking in the snow, constantly watching their backs and being as silent as possible, they reached a hill at the base of which was a cave. At the bottom there was a camouflaged entrance which they opened. After closing it and walking a few meters in a corridor that had been dug in the rock they came to a thick steel door. The commanding officer knocked. Twice, then a silence, then twice again. A peephole opened in the door, and the barrel of a machine gun met the icy eyes of the officer.

"What is it ?"

"Uh, we've seen the neighbour do something funny… Could I talk to Grandpa ? Maybe he could tell us what he was doing…"

The peephole closed and then the door opened. Two armed guards with a dog, a Siberian Husky, motioned them to come inside. Both guards tensed a bit when the dog sniffed the soldiers, but he only whined and they relaxed, one of them instantly went to close and lock the door. A third man in the room behind called.

"_Ei _you two, you're early!"

"Something's happening at the airfield. Dunno what the machines are up to, but the Commander should know."

"Okay, I'll take you to him then."

The officer nodded and followed him, as did Yuri.

After a few minutes walking they came to a large corridor at the bottom of which was a big steel door. "He's in there", the first man said, pointing to the door.

"Alright, _Spasibo_ comrade." The officer said before walking to the door and opening it.

The room he entered was large and spacious. Two large tables were lying in the middle while the concrete walls had been fitted with multiple screens. Operators were sitting in front of computers and various electronic devices, staring at images, interpreting signals or talking in microphones.

They were in the base's Operations Center.

A tall, large man in a camouflaged uniform was standing in front of one of the table, looking at maps while discussing with other officers. His face was scarred from numerous battles against the machines and his short hair was combed military style. His expression was hard and his eyes as cold as the blizzard in Siberia. The two men came to him and saluted.

"_Lieytenant _Bolchoi returning from surveillance mission, reporting, General."

The tall man turned at them, and spoke, his voice as sharp as a blade. "Lieutenant… I take it you have found something unusual ?"

Both men flinched when they heard his voice, but Bolchoi quickly regained his composure and answered matter-of-factly: "Yes sir. We saw machines loading unidentified cargo inside an… unusual freighter, which we identified as the Antonov An-225 _Mriya._"

The general raised an eyebrow, "The _Mriya _? Are you sure about this ?"

"Yes sir, 100%. Skynet must have made it unmanned."

He then looked down, thoughtful. "Hm. Skynet must be up to something big if it comes to use the largest plane in the world. Alright Lieutenant, you are dismissed."

* * *

About ten miles away on the airfield, the machines had finished to load the cargo by the Antonov's front ramp.

The Ukrainian Pre-Judgment Day era strategic airlift transport plane was absolutely huge, about sixty feet high and almost five times longer. The wingspan was so large that it would make a B-52 bomber pass for a child's toy, and the six turbofan engines were about the size of a truck each. It had been repainted in full grey by Skynet, and the windows of the cockpit had been replaced by metal, which gave it a menacing and almighty appearance.

Once the An-225's nose was closed the engines began to whine, and the transporters immediately evacuated the tarmac. The enormous machine then began to move slowly until it was on the runway, where it then began to accelerate as the noise became a shrill whistling. It moved faster and faster, apparently never wanting to take off.

Then, the front wheels left the ground and the nose lifted progressively. A few seconds more and the rear came, and what had once been a masterpiece of human engineering, and a true technologic wonder, took off majestically, perfectly. Like only a machine could manage. Heading to an unknown destination for an unknown purpose, which only Skynet knew.

**Bionic Experimental Research Laboratory 75865-Beta-544, Salinas****, United States**

**Back to Carter's POV**

The corridor was so dark it was hard to see even ten meters ahead.

On Dawson's request Carter had subsequently taken the lead, since his night-vision mode allowed him to see through the darkness and therefore warn the group of any incoming threats. Allison was right behind him, aside of the red-haired Lieutenant.

Several pipes had been pulverized by the explosion of the bunker-buster bomb and the corridor was flooded, the soldiers had water up to their torsos.

But, if anyone wanted to protest, they kept their mouth shut.

Suddenly, Carter noticed movement in his peripheral vision. He spun as quickly as he could, his GTAR-21 raised, and immediately fired a burst in the eyes of the T-740 that had raised from his hideout. The machine, like it always did when blinded, froze, and another soldier Carter knew by his nickname, "Havoc", which he earned from his taste for heavy, destructive weapons, finished it with several 7.62 SLAP saboted armour-piercing rounds from his SCAR-H rifle. Everyone relaxed, but when Havoc looked at Carter and nodded, Carter nodded back, and the soldier came next to him. "Alright, let's keep moving", Dawson whispered and they started walking again, even more watchful than before.

Carter grinned to himself as he thought, _This whole lightweight thing's great, I'm about twice as fast as before. Curtis did a really good job…_

After a few meters more, they came in front of a door. And Carter knew damn well that a door never meant any good.

After all, he experienced it the hard way in the first mission.

"Garber", Dawson said, and a short, stocky man with well-built muscles came in front of the door where he placed an explosive charge, a detonator and a timer. After setting it he recoiled, and everyone imitated him.

The acoustic of the corridor amplified the explosion, it was like a .50 caliber machine gun shooting only centimetres from their ears, and everyone flinched and grimaced, especially Carter whose cybernetically enhanced hearing was much more sensible than a human one. He hissed a little, wincing from the pain in his eardrums. _I'll come to wish I was deaf if it continues… Damn cyborg senses! _

But he had kept his weapon trained, and right as the door collapsed he readied himself. And he was right.

Behind the debris a T-1 was taking aim at them, and Carter immediately fired a burst in its head, the M995 5.56 AP rounds tearing through steel like a knife in butter. The machine's head literally shattered when another weapon fired as well. Once he was sure the drone was out for good he turned to the other shooter, who was no one more than Allison. The young brunette lowered her still-smoking G36 carbine and flashed him a small smile.

Carter nodded, a grin coming to his own face. _Wow, she's catching up fast. I didn't think she would do so _that_ fast though…_

He then turned back and went forward, motioning for the other to stay back. He walked quietly past the destroyed T-1 and inspected the surroundings.

The room was filled with machines of various kinds, each one seeming to have a specific purpose. Yet none of them was dangerous for them, these were made for scientific experiments, not for war.

His eyes fell on one he found strangely familiar, and suddenly he remembered. This circular container, the small automated arms here and there, the sensors inside… An automated dissector. He had seen one in the lab after having been captured. He had seen a human prisoner being forced into it by a 600, he remembered his horrible screams, the sickening wet noises as the machine tore him apart limb by limb, organ by organ and the blood gushing out of the container…

He shuddered. This machine… was probably the one he hated the most, even more than Terminator, why, he didn't know. But suddenly he felt the irresistible desire to see it in pieces, to destroy it with his own hands…

"Carter ?"

Then again, here she was. This soft voice was all he needed to be pulled out of the nightmare, whatever it was. Even in the darkest times, she would be here for him, this he knew. She was his ray of light, his own spark of hope.

He turned to the girl who meant everything for him, who currently watched him with concern in her beautiful chocolate eyes, and smiled warmly. "Just… bad memories coming back. I'll be okay." He assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She hesitated, and he squeezed her shoulder gently. "Don't worry, please. You know I don't like that when you're so worried. I feel bad. It's just a memory, you know…"

She stared at him… oh, how he _hated _to see her so concerned.

"Okay." she whispered, and smiled back, before kissing him lightly and turning away. He reluctantly tore his own gaze from her silhouette and resumed his own inspection.

"Sir, we found something here !"

He spun. At the other end a few soldiers, including Dawson, were now gathered in front of something he could not see. He made sure there was no Terminator in this side of the room then joined them.

It was a door. Again. Carter was starting to hate doors as much as his ears, it made him feel like a mouse eating a piece of cheese on a trap.

But maybe it was true.

Maybe that was what he was.

"We can't blow this one up, there's not enough space to take shelter without losing sight of the door itself." Dawson commented. Then she turned to Carter. "Could you arrange that ?"

The cyborg used his thermal vision to scan the door, and activated a specific software to determine what was the maximum pressure it could withstand… and compared with his knuckles' own resistance. To his displeasure, he found out he could break the door with no damage. He sighed and took a few steps forward, his right hand clenching into a fist.

_Now I hope there's not another of those clones or whatever behind…_

33

**So, as I employed a few Russian words here, you may need a translation. So here we go.**

_**Tchort **__**: a term that designates Satan; here employed as the equivalent of "damn";**_

_**Durak : Idiot;**_

_**Kapral : Corporal;**_

_**Spasibo : thanks.**_

**You can easily guess what the last one is.**

**As for the plane I'm talking about, the An-225 **_**Mryia **_**(which means "dream"), it is authentic. It was meant to carry the Russian **_**Buran**_** space shuttle; since it was never used, the program was stopped and the plane remained unique, now it is used for commercial cargo flights. **

**I saw photos of it on the Internet, and I was truly fascinated, so I wanted to make it appear on that sto****ry; besides, it seemed to fit with the description of Skynet and its army: gigantic and powerful. I thought it would make a good addition and a basis for another twist in the story. I don't know if I succeeded in it, so PLEASE tell me !!**


	34. Chapter 34 : False Hope

Carter's diamond-reinforced knuckles slammed against the door one last time and the titanium panel fell off, ripped from its supports by his sheer strength. He immediately backed, his GTAR-21 at the ready.

But there was nothing. No Terminator, no T-1, and no genetically-engineered assassin with metallic claws and fangs. Though he was relieved not to have to fight one of those things again, he was not exactly serene. Something was wrong. _Only one 740 and a T-1 ? For a secret installation like this one ? Hmm, that's not Skynet's style… _He switched his sensors into thermal mode again and scanned the large room in front of him. Soon he found two signatures. Humans. They temperature was low, they were surely dead. Increasing the sensors' sensibility he zoomed on them…

_Yep, no heartbeat._ He switched back into night-vision mode and entered the room cautiously. Then he shot a glance in their direction.

He was right. Two human bodies were attached by chains hanging from the ceiling, blood leaking out of numerous wounds. They were unnaturally pale, they had surely been bleeding since a lot of time. Other machines and equipment were dispatched everywhere, but no trace of anything directly hostile.

_Okay, something's definitely wrong. Skynet wouldn't leave so few machines inside the complex._

He turned to Dawson. "Lieutenant ?"

"What is it ?"

"Well there's nothing behind this door. Only two dead humans. I don't like that."

"Why's that ?"

"Because such a facility would have more defensive machines inside if it was that important, right ? I mean, two machines ? And we heard no gunshot yet, which means the others did not find any yet. That's not right."

* * *

**Meanwhile, ****36 100 feet above Alaska…**

The Antonov An-225 had reached its service ceiling only a few minutes after having left the airport, and now it was flying above Alaska, more precisely above what had once been the city of Anchorage. Shortly after the takeoff six long-range Hunter-Killers coming from Provideny Coastal Base had joined it as a protection squadron.

Since the giant cargo plane was equipped with its own RWR system, missile detectors and chaff/flare launchers, it could easily avoid missiles coming from the ground thanks to its manoeuvrability, outstanding for a plane that huge, but since the Resistance began to equip itself with fighter jets… everything could happen. That was why the Antonov had received other modifications, like autonomous rapid-fire plasma turrets at the rear, on the top, both sides and the bottom.

However the diversion had worked. The Resistance now knew about the fake project… the bait that would divert them from stuffing their nose in the right place. If the An-225 reached its destination without trouble, which was almost certain since the Resistance had no naval forces, then the new project would be tested and launched in mass production, and the victory would be certain. Even if they realized it right now, the cargo was already on its way. It was too late.

They would never see it coming.

If Skynet could sneer in satisfaction, no doubt it would.

* * *

**Bionic Experimental Research Laboratory 75865-Beta-544, Salinas, United States**

**Back to Allison's POV**

That was really strange.

The lab contained many equipments Allison could not identify, she was not an expert in machinery, but there was no amniotic tubes, no clones, nothing. If a lab was dedicated to create things like these biological beings, there should be others, right ? And tubes to stock them up. Monitors. But no, there was nothing like this. It seemed illogical. And what were dead humans doing in this lab ? If three of them had been created they did not need other humans… Carter was right. Something lacked.

And she did not like that.

They had already inspected three similar rooms, only to find similar things. Bodies hanging from walls, other machinery… cages and empty containers, but nothing else. And the other sections had reported to had found not much else.

It was just another study lab like many others.

Next to her, Lieutenant Dawson frowned. "You're right Lewis, something's wrong with this lab. I think we'd better head back outside…"

They did. Quickly.

Once being out of the hole, they waited for others to come back up. When everyone was outside, the officers began to concert. They all had this strange feeling, and Allison was close to Carter who spoke with them.

"Was it a false lead ?" asked one.

"Yeah, maybe they lied…" added another.

"Nope, they didn't", Carter intervened. "I interrogated them myself, and I scanned them with my sensors. They couldn't lie, impossible."

"Then what…" the first officer began, but he was interrupted by Carter. "They didn't lie… but…SHIT!!"

Everyone jumped at his sudden outburst. "What is it ?" Dawson asked.

"They couldn't lie, which means they were lied to!! Skynet lied to them!"

Everyone began to shout at once.

"What ?!"

"Of course!! That's why…"

"So basically, they gave us false information they didn't know to be false, is that what you're saying ?" Dawson clarified.

"Yeah." Carter answered.

"Oh, fuck!!"

"Then what are we…"

"Wait, wait!!" Dawson shouted. "Everyone please, calm down, we need to think about it! What does it mean basically ?"

"It means those things are created elsewhere, Dawson, there's no other explanation!" snapped another officer. Dawson glared at him.

Allison had followed the debate closely, but all of a sudden, as the red-haired Lieutenant was about to reply an idea jumped into her mind. _No other explanation… or is it ?_ She decided to voice it loud. After all, it was worth the try.

"What if it's a bait ?"

Suddenly everyone fell silent and turned to her. She looked away uncomfortably. "What do you mean ?" asked Dawson, encouraging her.

"Well…" the young brunette began, "this lab was very well defended on the outside, better than normal labs, right ? And yet there's nothing special inside… so… maybe the project in itself, the whole clone thing, is a fake…"

"… to give us a lead !!" Carter finished, and she nodded. "To give us a scare and make us look in the wrong direction! Skynet's planning something else, and this… this was just a goddamn diversion!"

Everyone shouted at once, "WHAT ?!", and Allison jumped.

"Whatever it really is, wrong location or bait, we gotta go back to the base and inform Connor now!!" Carter urged. Dawson nodded and shouted, "Everybody in the choppers, we mustn't waste a second!!"

No one contested.

Or even tried to remind her that she was not the officer with the highest rank.

* * *

**Pacific Ocean**

Since Skynet had laid its hands on the former US Navy aircraft carrier CVN-71 _USS Theodore Roosevelt_, it had been transformed into a naval operation base, able to deploy aerial and naval drones, and was also used as a relay for Skynet's global shortwave radio

communications network, just like most of the giant ships it could use, civilian or military.

When the ship's radars registered the large aircraft coming in its direction at a speed of Mach 0.65 (796.27 kph), they immediately relayed the information to the central electronic brain, which sent a pre-recorded signal to the aircraft.

The reply soon came.

_ID code TA__.AN225-COSSACK.001S. Top-priority access authorization Delta-777. To: Skynet Operational Center, Los Angeles._

The code and authorization matched with the ones transmitted by L.A. Center, which gave the certitude that this aircraft was the exact one Skynet waited for. The carrier's CPU immediately sent a message to the base of Los Angeles, in Alpha-0-6 emergency code so the Resistance would not be able to decipher it.

_Long Range Transport A__ircraft 225-COSSACK.001S under way. Flight parameters nominal. ETA 2hours 24 minutes. Prepare for arrival._

* * *

**Back to Carter's POV**

The choppers were heading back to the base as fast as they could without wasting their fuel, and everyone inside was tensed.

This new and unexpected situation was making them nervous. Even Carter was not at ease. Whether Skynet had really set up this diversion to divert them from the real lead, or gave them a wrong location, they had been tricked. And it was bad.

Frustrated, the blond cyborg slammed his fist against the bench, deforming the metal and startling several soldiers. He murmured between gritted teeth: "Faster, _faster_ !!" Everything seemed too slow.

But he knew he could not do much.

And his mood was even worsened by the memories that sometimes flashed through his mind.

He remembered himself in the middle of a row of prisoners, slowly being pushed along a lame surrounded by metallic fences by some bulldozer-like machine, the eyes of their cybernetic guardians glowing sinisterly in the starless night.

Then a stop, and several T-600s eyeing the prisoners one by one. Their eyes falling on him, and suddenly one of them walking forward and grabbing his wrist. He remembered trying to escape from the Terminator's hand, and another coming behind him… a sudden flash of pain as it hit him at the back of his head.

He remembered regaining consciousness as the 600 dragged him in a white corridor like a ragdoll without even looking at him, the pain as the machine almost crushed his foot in its iron grip.

The screams and the smell of fresh blood as its captor forced him on a metallic table.

The sight of this man pinned on another table, the metal ring that immobilized him, and the table retracting inside the automated dissector. The man struggling, to no avail

And all of a sudden the screams changing into horrible strangled yells, the humid sounds, and more blood gushing out of the machine… the smell of blood covering everything else… He remembered he was about to throw up at this moment, he just could not bear it…

And then the sharp sting as a needle was jabbed in his arm, his vision becoming fuzzy, and darkness. And relief. At least he did not hear the man screaming anymore.

It was the time when Skynet had turned him into an Infiltrator. The time where his old life was erased, the time when he began a new one he did not even know at this moment.

_Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT !!_ He hit the bench again and closed his eyes.

Then he felt a small, warm hand wrap around his.

"You remember this time… the time you were turned into…"

"Yeah", he whispered, not wanting to look at Allison for the moment. "I can't stop thinking about… Before I was sedated I saw a guy being forced into a dissector like the one I saw in the lab…" He shivered. "They never sedate the victims, they just tear them apart alive and fully conscious… I remember his screams… it keeps replaying again and again…"

He shook his head, sighing. "I hate that. And it's not the moment to think about this anyway."

She said nothing, but gave his hand a gentle squeeze and rested her head against his shoulder.

One hour later they landed at the base. Crater immediately ran outside, shouting behind him, "I'll warn Connor!!" He did not wait for an answer to come, he sprinted to the underground installations' entrance. There was no time to waste.

Finally he found the commander's office and knocked. Connor's muffled voice rang, "Come in!" He opened the door and slipped in the office hastily.

The resistance Commander looked up at him, "Carter, what's wrong ?"

"We've been tricked, Connor, the clones were provided with false information!"

Hearing this Connor jumped out of his seat. "What ?!"

"This lab was an ordinary one, there was nothing special inside! It was a diversion!"

Carter fell silent and Connor stood here, apparently thinking. "… So that's what it's all about…" he finally said.

Carter realized that Connor knew something. "What d'you mean ?" he asked, intrigued.

The man looked up at him. "I've received a report from several outposts, they said Skynet was gathering numerous aerial forces along the coast, like if they were waiting for an attack or something… And three hours before that, we got a call from a Russian Resistance base, apparently there was some kind of unmanned cargo plane taking off, seemingly heading toward the US…"

Carter instantly understood what it implied. "So, this plane, whatever it is, is carrying the real project, and this trick was meant to give Skynet enough time to deploy its forces to protect the plane along its way… And now it's complete…"

"Yeah. We can't stop anything now, attacking those forces would be suicide."

Carter looked down. "We're too late…"

* * *

**Skynet Operational Center, Los Angeles**

Dozens and dozens of HKS flew around the complex, seeking for any clue of hostile humans, more watchful than ever now that the Antonov was finishing its approach and preparing to land. The majestic machine slowly descended closer and closer to the ground until touching down, the wheels screeching at the contact of the runway. It deployed its spoilers and thrust reversers simultaneously, at the same moment, and the plane progressively slowed down until thrust reversal was not any longer necessary, and therefore shut down.

Once it came to a halt on the tarmac, the engines stopped as well and heavy transport trucks came in front of the An-225, waiting.

Then the plane's nose opened slowly, and the automated crane mounted on the ceiling of the cargo bay seized the huge containers one by one, putting them on the trucks and locking them into place. When the cargo was completely unloaded out of the plane, the trucks moved back before going in the direction of the central complex. A message was immediately sent to Skynet's Central Core.

_Long Range Transport Aircraft 225-COSSACK.001S arrival confirmed. Cargo secured and under way. __Prepare settings for Project T.O.K testing._

34


	35. Chapter 35 : Impossible

For the fourth time Carter rose from behind his shelter, and fired his FN SCAR-H rifle, which he chose as a replacement to his Tavor GTAR-21, since it was not powerful enough against the new Terminators. Two AP bullets tore through the T-740's skull, pulverizing the CPU.

"They're trying to encircle us!!" he shouted to Dawson. "I can see five of them heading to our left!" He aimed at them and shot again, piercing another machine's head right between its eyes. "Understood!" Dawson replied, then called her support unit to intercept them.

Meanwhile, Carter ran to the wall, beside a certain young brunette, who was reloading her new weapon, a Belgian FN FAL assault rifle, which was chambered in 7.62 NATO like Carter's SCAR-H. Since the 5.56 AP bullets revealed themselves inefficient against the T-740's armour, both had decided to change their guns.

Allison looked up at him. "I've got only two mags left!"

"Damn." Carter groaned. "Same for me, plus twelve bullets in the rifle! And ammo's lowering as well for the others! Only the support unit seems to have enough!"

"Ahh, fuck!!" Allison cursed angrily, and despite the situation Carter had to stop himself from laughing. Apparently the battlefield was giving her new habits… such as this one.

"I couldn't resume the whole thing better." he said, amused, before taking a quick peek. Another T-740 stepped in his field of vision, the barrel of its modified M60 smoking, and shot it without hesitation. The machine collapsed graceless, decapitated.

"And that's for forcing fourteen-year-old teens to fight and learn bad habits, you son-of-a-digital-bitch!!" he screamed as he took cover. Allison looked at him oddly. "What was that for ?" she asked, and Carter said: "Well, because we're in a world of shit doesn't mean that the concept of teenage soldiers is acceptable!!"

As she opened her mouth to answer, he cut her off: "I know, I know, but at least recognize that… well, it's disgusting! It shouldn't happen!"

She tilted her head to the side, and a smirk appeared on her lips. "Are you saying this because of the battle, or because of my swearing ?"

"I'd say both!!"

She burst out laughing.

"That was not funny!!" Carter said. Though she could see he had difficulties to keep a straight face. "Yes it was!" she answered. "In high schools, before the war, I bet teenagers swore just like I do!"

"Doesn't mean it's nice!" he replied. "Besides…" But he was cut off by a menacing whistle that seemed to be coming right at them. "Rocket!!" And he jumped, pinning her to the ground and covering her with his whole body as a deafening explosion destroyed everything around them. He did not release her before the debris stopped falling. "You alright ?"

Allison stirred, then looked back at him, smiled weakly and said "Yeah. I'll live…"

He nodded, then seized his rifle and looked around.

The wall they had been hiding behind was completely destroyed and a huge crater was separating them from two 740s coming toward them. In less than a blink of an eye, Carter activated his targeting software and raised his weapon. One shot pierced the first Terminator's left temple, the second going through the other one's left eye and shattering the CPU before going out. Both machines collapsed almost simultaneously.

A roar coming upon them attracted his attention, and, looking up, he saw a small Hunter-Killer drone coming back at them for another strike. However, it did not have time to launch another rocket as Carter shot it, making it explode.

"That's not safe here, let's move!!" he exclaimed, helping Allison to her feet with one hand, holding his weapon with the other. The girl seized her own rifle and following him as they retreated back to Dawson's section. Another machine came in front of them, but was completely reduced to shreds by a suppressive fire from one of the support unit's M240s.

"Over here!!" shouted a soldier, and they quickly turned to see two men holding the machine gun and three other with rifles. They ran to them. Dawson was behind another wall a bit further. "What was that ?" she asked when they came next to her. "Support Drone!" Carter answered, and she cursed. "Great. Exactly what we need. You, you and you," she said, pointing to three men, you'll assist Benson's team and stop the machines from getting too close. Now we're far enough we need air support." Then, she reached for her earpiece. "Striker, Dawson here, do you copy ? … We need some help here… Yep. … Roger that, we'll paint the targets."

Afterwards she turned to one of her men, a Japanese soldier holding an M16A4 rifle with an infrared laser illuminator. "Katou, we got three DAPs incoming, you know the drill." He nodded and ran to a wall, using a window to get a good sight of the machines.

About five minutes later, the noise of helicopter engines rang, and Dawson shouted: "Everybody down!!"

* * *

Allison immediately crouched behind the wall ground. The soud went louder and louder, and all of a sudden there was a chorus of whistles as a salvo of rockets was fired.

The explosions made the ground shake.

Then a second salvo came, and then a third. Carefully looking up, Allison saw one of the choppers stopping above the machines. A very rapid rattling sound rang, and she saw light trails coming down on the ground at an incredible rate before a cloud of smoke rose from the area where thousands of bullets impacted in seconds. Afterwards, the machine followed the others, and made a U-turn to get back to the base. Allison recognized them as MH-60 Direct Action Penetrator gunships; basically MH-60L Backhawk choppers with support wings on the sides to carry missiles and rockets, and often a 30mm autocannon. She had already seen one at the airport and heard about it from one of the mechanics. But hearing about their firepower was not as impressive as seeing it. When she looked to the area they has sprayed with lead and explosives, she saw there was no more machines to see.

Not even ten seconds of firing, and they wiped out a whole squad of 740s.

_Wow. _she thought. _It may be immoral to say that, but right now I'm happy those were invented._ She smirked mischievously. _Take that you metal assholes._

Dawson's voice rang to her left and she started. "Right, now let's go clean up this goddamn mess!"

Everyone followed.

As they travelled through the now clear area, they saw what was left of the machines: parts here and there, jacks, broken pieces of armour. Only one or two were still active, though they had lost enough mechanics to ensure they could not do anything. The soldiers finished them with one bullet in the head each.

Then they came to what was left of the small village, where the machines had been waiting for them. The factory they were supposed to raid was about a mile further.

As they went through the deadly quiet area, Allison thought, _It's too quiet. Even with the air support… there should be other machines in here._

She did not know how right she was.

Not yet.

* * *

Carter scanned his surroundings, using his sensors at his maximum sensibility. But he found nothing. There was no noise, and not the single trace of even the smallest scout drone.

_I don't like that. Damn, if there still were laws about war then silence should be illegal._

Just as he finished the thought, earth erupted beneath them, and something huge appeared from the hole in the ground.

It was a gigantic driller, about twenty-five feet large and sixty feet long.

_I _knew _there was something._

Suddenly, the machine's bay opened and a batch of T-740s went out. Carter immediately shot one, two of them, but all of a sudden he perceived movement at his side. A strange sound rang, and he felt like he was being electrocuted.

The last thing he saw before everything blacked out was the red letters scrolling in his monitor.

WARNING

SYSTEM OVERLOAD - EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN

_I knew it._

* * *

TARGET IDENTIFIED : CARTER LEWIS (SERIES THI 660 INFILTRATOR)

ACTION : INCAPACITATE

As soon as the order came, the T-740 lifted its EMP gun and took aim. The surprise was complete, since the target was busy terminating two other units. The discharge went off right as the rogue Infiltrator turned his head, hitting him on the side. He collapsed under the shock.

The machine walked to him and looked down at his inert body. Another order came.

CARRY TO SKYNET FACTORY 22548-THETA-151

The Terminator complied, grabbing him by the waist and seizing him on its shoulder. The other humans could not get to it since other Terminators had got out of the driller and were attacking them, keeping them pinned behind the walls.

A few dozens of meters away, a Scout Centaur M255, hidden in the ruins of one of the house, was waiting. The machine walked to it and put the traitor inside the tank's bay. A T-633 then seized him and sedated him with a pneumatic syringe before the bay closed. Instantly the machine rolled off, crushing a few walls and scattered bones as it went away.

* * *

"Dammit!!" Allison shouted, for the third time in two minutes. Another 740 came into view and she fired a burst on it, blowing half its skull clean off. "I knew there was something wrong." She ran to the wall Dawson was hiding behind.

"They killed five men already!!" she said, looking at the officer, who cursed under her breath. "They had the advantage of surprise, that's why." she growled angrily, and Allison nodded. "I agree."

Carefully poking her head at the side of the wall, she saw that two other machines were lying on the ground, unmoving. Another one was coming, but it fell, almost cut in half as the support unit fired again.

A few seconds later, it was over. Everyone headed out, scanning the surroundings as they dispatched around the village while trying to keep contact. Another group having been separated during the short counterattack, they needed to find them.

And they did.

"Lieutenant, lieutenant!!" Dawson spun to the source of the voice, and saw a soldier running toward her. "What is it, soldier ?"

"They… they took him… in a Scout Centaur, we didn't have time to get him out…"

"Calm down, calm down! Who did they take ?"

"They took Lewis…"

Allison was at the side of Dawson when she heard the name. She instantly felt her heart miss one beat. "What ?! You… you mean Carter Lewis ?!" she exclaimed, running to the soldier, feeling horrible. Like if her heart was imprisoned inside a metal cage. "Please, tell me!!"

A bit taken aback by her anguished outburst, the soldier stuttered one word.

The word she wished she would never hear.

"Y-yeah…"

She never thought she could hate a single word that much. And especially this one.

Yet right now…

She lowered her head and slowly backed away. Her lower lip trembled.

_No… Captured by the machines… I'll lose him… I can't…_

A single tear ran down her cheek as she struggled not to cry.

She vaguely heard the soldier speaking: "Uh… d-did I do something wrong ? Is it my fault ?"Then Dawson responded, "No it's not. She was… attached to him, and you didn't know, so you got nothing to do with that. We need to warn Connor. Now."

* * *

**5 hours later…**

"Oww…"

As Carter opened his eyes the first thing he felt was a terrible headache. "Dammit." he muttered, trying to remember what happened last. It only increased the pain. But it did not stop him.

And after a few seconds, he remembered. _The attack in the village… Fuck!!_ His eyes fully opened, and he realized he was in a strange place.

It reminded him of… his own house.

The house he lived in before Judgment Day.

"The hell… ?"

He sat up. Yes, it definitely looked like his old home. Same color on the walls, same furniture, arranged the same way, than in the living room. Himself was sitting on the same couch he used to sleep on when he was a kid, to the despair of his parents who had to move him themselves when they wanted to watch the TV…

He let out a soft chuckle at the memory, then remembered he had previously passed out in the ruins of a destroyed village, stunned by cybernetic killers trying to exterminate mankind.

All this was weird, and made absolutely no sense. Himself was dressed with a black sweater and grey pants, like the ones he used to wear before the war…

Something was wrong.

He got up and inspected the room. The shutters on the windows were closed. He tried to open the windows so he could see what was behind, but they were blocked. After a few tests, he renounced. Then he went to the door…

It was locked.

_Okay, something's _very _wrong._

He turned around and began to walk in circles, like a lion in a cage.

_What the hell does that mean ?! Am I dreaming, is it some kind of hallucination ?_

The sound of a door opening made him spin on his heels.

As he saw the person who was entering the room, he froze.

His eyes widened.

His breath stuck in his throat.

"No…"

These grey eyes, so similar to his own… This dark blond hair curled in this familiar way…

It had been three years since all this had disappeared from his life.

The young girl smiled sweetly to him.

But Carter knew it was impossible. And it was far too realistic to be a dream.

The last time he had seen this face, it was unrecognizable. As well as her body.

Last time he had seen her, she was torn to shreds and bathing in her own blood. Because she had been riddled with bullets by a T-1. Almost at point blank range.

No one could survive that. Even the luckiest human in the world could not.

She had left without a scream, without a word. Just like that, as quickly as you open a door.

Yet here she was. Standing in front of him as if nothing had happened. As if all this had only been a big nightmare.

Becky. His sister.

The sound of her voice, and the way she spoke, made it even worse. "Yo, Carter. Been a long time… three years, right ?"

_It's impossible…_

He took a step back, not believing his eyes and ears. It could not be real, it definitely could not. Becky was killed three years ago. How could she be alive, let alone even _stand_ here ?

_It can't be…_

35


	36. Chapter 36 : Nothing Can Bring Her Back

**Okay, so Chapter 36's up. Again, sorry for the waiting. It's not easy to alternate writing and revisions for my university exams. Anyway, I thank all my readers, and hope you will like this chapter as well !**

"Damn… Do you know where they could've taken him ?" John Connor asked.

Dawson shook her head. "No, sir. Shortly after he was taken, two Scout Centaurs that had been ambushed us and killed six of my men, we couldn't follow the vehicle he'd been put in."

The resistance Commander cursed and lowered his head, thinking.

Then, after a moment, he looked at the red-haired officer again. "Go to the Op Center, initiate the Owleye protocol. Full-scale deployment. And get a map of the Skynet US grid, I'll join you there."

Dawson saluted and went out.

While they talked, a certain young brunette was sitting on a chair, looking at the floor. Her hands were shaking and she did not make a single noise. It was even worse to know he was alive in the machines' hands than dead. Because, what would they do to him ?

Maybe they would change him back into a slave of Skynet, or dissect him or whatever they wanted to do with him. Besides, she was sure he would prefer to be dead. Of course, there still was a hope, but… it was thin, really thin. After all, if they captured _him_ and not anyone else, they wouldn't keep him as a prisoner, they needed him for something precise, and she did not want to know what.

She snapped out of her depressing thoughts as a hand gently squeezed her shoulder. Connor was staring down at her, a mix of compassion and determination in his eyes. "We'll do everything we can. I'm heading to the Op Center for the searching, you wanna come ?"

Allison looked back at him wordlessly, before a small, sad grin appeared on her face. "Sure."

* * *

"Hey, what's wrong ?" Becky chuckled. "Not happy to see me ?"

Carter just stood here, not saying a word.

He was witnessing the impossible. And he was supposed to be _happy _!?

Just like that ? As if nothing had happened, as if it all had been a dream !?

Becky seemed now worried. "Carter, what's wrong, it's me !"

Her grey eyes shone with worry, but… Carter was not buying it, it seemed… fake. Imitated. He stared deeper into those eyes… there was something under the brightness. Something unnatural. Wrong. He squinted… and saw it. _Of course there was something wrong!!_ he thought. _I'm such an idiot. Becky's dead, nothing can bring her back!_

Under the grey orbs, he saw a faint electric blue glow.

Skynet had taken her sister's profile, and now used it on some damn Infiltrator.

It was only a machine.

A machine with Becky's face.

Anger rose inside him. Anger so strong it broke every barrier, flew in his entire body. Never in his whole life had he felt that angry. _How dare they ?!!_

He instantly lunged at the machine, putting all his strength in a straight right to its face. A loud _clang _ rang and the Infiltrator flew backwards, hitting the door it just closed and ripping it from its hinges. The machine then landed hardly on the floor of a white corridor. _Skynet standard design. The room with the TV, the couch and all that, it's just decor…_ Carter realized. _I'm in a Skynet lab. _

_Great. Just fucking great._

The Infiltrator rose up on its feet, its nose bleeding, looking at Carter with a slightly hurt expression. "What are you doing, Carter ? Why did you hit me ?"

"Shut up. Shut the hell up, you goddamn tin can. Your tricks won't work on me. Becky's DEAD!! And it's your master's fault!!"

The machine's face went from hurt to shocked. "W-what ?! You called me… tin can…"Its voice trembled. "You think I'm one of them? How can you do this to me?"

The Infiltrator's lower lip trembled, and a tear rolled on its cheek. Carter closed his eyes.

_Why do they make them so damn realistic?_ He breathed deeply and mentally admonished himself. _It's just playing with your nerves. The sadness is _fake_, the tears are _fake_, this whole thing is freakin' FAKE!! _

He opened his eyes again. The machine was still here. Looking at him pleadingly.

Crying.

But it did not work anymore. In fact, it was just fueling his rage. A machine using his dead sister's face… that was _really_ going over the edge. "Cut the bullshit already. You're only aggravating your case." he growled, clenching his fists before rushing at her again. His lightened endoskeleton made him faster than any Terminator, and he kicked the machine in the neck before it could react. Then, forming claws with his hands, he inserted them in its eye socket, and ripped the eyeballs off.

Blood, or what looked like it, leaked out of the wounds. _Yeah, they're _very_ realistic. Too much for my liking._

The imaging sensors, which were now completely exposed, were glowing a bright blue color, unlike Skynet's trademark red. This intrigued Carter. _Blue eyes ? Strange…_

"What model are you? You're not like the others."

The machine had now a completely neutral face, which was logical since its cover was useless. Though, when it heard the question, it grinned, its eyes flashing brighter than before.

"I am TOK-655, also called Specialized Infiltration Unit. Pleased to meet you, Carter Lewis."

Behind the Infiltrator, five T-740s appeared, all of them wielding shock guns. Their crimson red eyes were all trained on him.

"Please, follow us. Don't force us to neutralize you again." TOK-655 said icily.

Carter knew there was nothing he could do, not here. The corridor was too narrow for him to dodge if they shot at him. Whatever he did they would take him, no choice was left. So, he reluctantly walked toward the Infiltrator. "Lead the way."

The machine smiled and turned on its heels before walking away, and the five 740s encircled Carter as he followed.

* * *

"Anything new ?" John Connor asked to the operators.

Since the Owleye protocol had been initiated, the base was using every resource it had to monitor Skynet's activity in the State. Two Key Hole spy satellites that had been secured by the Resistance observed every movement of the machines, while ground-based sensors monitored the communications between bases. This protocol was rarely used, except in case of emergency or rescue operations, because it implied to use every mean of surveillance to its top capabilities and in normal times it was not needed.

One of the operators that watched a large screen where the satellites' observations were monitored turned to Connor and shook his head. "Negative, sir, nothing yet. No reference to Lewis, and we have no clue as to where he could've been taken."

"Dammit." Connor hissed, frustrated and angry.

Allison, meanwhile, had overheard the conversation. And the more time passed, the more depressed and pessimist she was. After that much time, he surely was already dead or examined or whatever.

Or worse, corrupted. Turned into another pawn of Skynet.

She sat on a container, trying not to think about it. It was the worst thing that could ever happen. If he came back as one of them, she was sure he would not be able to fight.

She would have to kill him.

Tears trickled in her eyes. This only thought made her want to scream until nothing was left in her lungs. _He… he has done so much for me… he was always here… it shouldn't end this way. Not this way…_

Revolted by this perspective she got up and wiped her eyes. Staying in the room, waiting for the news, would only make things worse.

She had to distract herself. Think about something else for a while.

She slipped out of the Operations Center, and headed in base's the south area.

It was time she paid a visit to an old friend.

While she walked through the corridors, someone stopped in front of her. She looked up, and sighed in exasperation. This guy was the worst idiot she had ever met. Always seeming to think he was the best, showing off all the time. All of a sudden, he seemed to have taken an interest in her a few days ago, and even had the nerve to _ask her out._ Carter was here at the time, and it was fortunate, otherwise she would have broken the guy's nose. _Can't he leave me _alone_ for five minutes… ?_

"Hey little girl, where're you goin' like that ?"

"None of your business, get outta my way." she answered in a bored tone. Which became threatening with the last word, "Now."

The man did not seem fazed by her warning, instead he just glanced at her right leg, where a Desert eagle Mark XIX .44 Magnum was strapped in a holster. "Hey, ain't that thing too big for a little girl like you ? You'd better leave it to a real man, ya know…"

"Enough !!" a voice boomed. The man froze and released her, looking at someone behind them. The girl turned around to see a young man who seemed to be in his mid-twenties, with dark hair and blue eyes, dressed with military combat fatigues and a tactical vest, an assault rifle on his back, walking toward them. On his chest was a badge with the words "Sgt. Reese".

"What exactly were you doing, soldier ?"

The guy stammered, "Uh… just… just making conversation…"

"Yeah. Conversation, like you always do. Leave her alone and get out of my sight." Reese growled, frowning.

The soldier groaned and let her go before walking away.

The officer grinned to Allison. "I apologize for him. He's… well, I don't need to tell you I guess." He chuckled. The young brunette grinned back. "No you don't need to. But thanks anyway." Then she extended her hand. This Reese guy was nice, she liked him already. _Besides, having one more friend won't hurt._ "Allison Young."

The officer seemed surprised at first, probably not used to people being that open with him, but then smiled friendly and shook her hand. "Derek Reese. By the way, this guy, you know, he's under my command. So if he causes you more trouble, you just tell me, okay?"

She nodded. "Alright. I gotta go, see you later."

Derek Reese grinned and waved as she walked away.

After a few minutes, she came in front of the door of the base's kennel, and opened it.

It was quiet, the dogs resting or walking in circles inside the cages. Several of them looked up to the girl when she entered the room. But one in particular caught her attention. She smiled as it stared at her, his tail wagging and whining a little. She crouched in front of the bars and stroked his head softly. "Hey there Sammy boy…" she whispered. "Sorry for coming only now, I didn't have much time." The dog licked her fingers and her smile widened. "Good to see you too." With her other hand she scratched the fur of his neck and he wagged his tail faster, whining happily.

_Nothing better than a good chat with friends to boost morale._

_

* * *

_

The metal door closed with a hiss after the last T-740 entered the large room. They stopped a moment, and Carter saw there were several huge machines looking like MRI scanners, except they were bigger and far more complex. Cables were meandering on the ground.

He just finished detailing one when a 740 knocked him on the ground, before two other seized him by the arms and legs, then put him on the metal shaft that protruded out of one of the machines. Then, a third machine locked reinforced bracelets around his wrists and ankles.

"What's that ?" he asked, knowing his question would probably not be answered.

"You'll see", TOK-655 replied. Then the shaft began to retract inside the machine.

Carter did not fight. He knew it was useless, the bracelets were too durable, he could not break them, and even if he could, what was the point ? How many machines could be waiting outside the room ?

Suddenly, something literally encased his head, blocking any movements, then a laser beam appeared, slowly moving from his hair to his feet, then back.

Scanning him.

A few seconds passed. Then the laser disappeared, and a retinal sensor analyzed his pupils. Afterwards, everything stopped, and the shaft slowly went out.

TOK-655 was still here, a blue light glowing out of its empty sockets. Its face was completely neutral, making it look like a motionless zombie whose eyes had been taken off.

_Creepy._ Carter thought. _Man, I hate the glowing eyes. Makes it all worse._

"Thank you for your cooperation." the machine said coldly.

Carter was about to reply when something hard hit his temple, and he fell into unconsciousness.

36


	37. Chapter 37 : I'm Sorry

**Late again… about one month late. I apologize to my readers, really. That's what I get when I get all stressed about exams.**

**48 hours later…**

After two full days of research, Connor had decided to shut down the Owleye protocol, mostly because Skynet could possibly detect it. It was too dangerous. Even Allison had agreed to that. She had done it sadly, but not reluctantly. Because she knew perfectly Carter was not the whole Resistance, they could not risk being discovered just because of one man.

The young brunette was currently at the shooting field, firing her Desert Eagle at the targets. She did that often when sad thoughts crossed her mind, along with going to see Sam; those two things helped keeping her mind more or less clear.

And right now that was all she needed.

She pulled the trigger one last time and like always, the recoil of the huge gun made her step back a few inches. The empty case clinked on the ground, and she ejected the magazine with dexterity, inserted a fresh one before snapping the slide back and firing again.

The loud _bang_ and the smell of powder overwhelmed her sense for a second. She liked that. Firing guns had become one of her favourite activities these last days.

Once again she emptied the magazine, but as she was about to reload, a male voice rang behind her: "Still here, huh ? You seem to enjoy doing that."

The girl turned around with the empty gun in one hand to find Derek Reese coming to the range, an HK 417 rifle in his hands, grinning.

Allison smiled back. "Well, yeah, it helps me not filling my head with depressing thoughts…"

Derek snickered and nodded, "This I understand. Sometimes weapons can be… well, more than weapons. If you see what I mean." he finished with a small hand gesture.

The girl laughed loudly. "I do."

**Meanwhile, somewhere in the mountains, near the Death Valley…**

The HK Transporter came closer and closer to the ground, the three small Hunter-Killers that were its escort hovering around, scanning every bit of terrain. When it finally touched down, the cargo bay opened. Three T-740s went out, holding a familiar-looking man by the arms and ankles. Eight others surrounded them, their modified M60s at the ready.

After a few steps, the chromed skeleton-like robots bent down and put the apparently unconscious man on the dusty ground. Then they backed away, and a fourth one came forward, holding a small square object in his left hand, and a scalpel in the other. It then bent over the man, and delicately turned his head, completely exposing his left side, and especially the temple.

Then, it prepared the scalpel.

**1 hour later…**

Two grey eyes opened, staring directly at the sky. It was becoming dark and the night was slowly falling over the mountains, so the light was no problem for the man. He did not squint or close his eyes. After a second he got up slowly, very slowly. His head swiveled as he calmly assessed his surroundings. But except rocks and dust, there was nothing to see. His expression was blank and strangely neutral. It betrayed no surprise or confusion.

The man stood there for a moment, apparently hesitating, stared at the sky for a few seconds, then began to walk in a seemingly random direction. His pace was determined and regular.

He was lost. Lost in the middle of an immense desert, with absolutely no landmark and no idea where he could be going.

He did not even seem fazed by this fact.

Actually he seemed to know for certain where he was going.

But, more important, _what_ he was looking for.

As if some strange, _inhuman_ instinct was guiding him.

**Bakersfield Resistance Base, at the same time…**

"Sir ?"

"What is it ?" The officer in the command post turned to the operator who just called.

"I got a signal from our scopes in the Death Valley area. Apparently a Transporter came here for about three minutes and took flight. Then nothing, except a single thermal signal heading west. A cyborg, it seems."

"You sure about that ?"

"Yes sir, absolutely sure. An Infiltrator probably. He's heading right to Ridgecrest."

The officer's eyes widened.

"What ! Crap, he's gonna discover our outpost there ! Send them a message, I want this cyborg captured and melted as soon as possible !"

"What's happening here ?"

The hoarse, drawl voice was unmistakable, and the officer turned around and saluted, now standing as straight as an antenna.

"Commander Connor, Sir ! Uh, there's a cyborg heading to Ridgecrest, it seems it was dropped near the Death Valley by a transporter. Our scopes confirmed it."

"A cyborg… ?" Connor put a hand on his chin, thinking. After a short moment he said in a low tone,"I see. Send an airborne patrol and bring it back here. Now."

The officer looked at the commander hesitantly. "But, sir..."

"Now."

When John Connor spoke that way, no one tried to disobey him.

After all, he knew more about machines than anyone else. And the officer was very well aware of that.

**24 minutes later…**

The two UH-1C Huey helicopters were flying as low as possible. They were still in Resistance territory but that did not mean Skynet could not detect them, and they took every possible precaution to avoid that. They were escorted by three AH-6 Little Bird light attack choppers loaded with GAU-19 .50BMG Gatling guns, Hydra 70 anti-materiel rockets, and Stinger air-to-air missiles, in case Aerial Hunter-Killers would attack.

Inside one of the Hueys, a certain fourteen-year-old brunette was checking the chamber of her FN FAL assault rifle. She had volunteered to be part of this mission. After all, that was another very good way to get some _particular_ thoughts out of her head. She did not want to think about what the machines were doing with… him. Carter. Every time this question came to her mind she felt like she would never see him again.

This, actually, was probably true.

And she hated that.

Even the word "true" disgusted her now. She did not want to use it anymore for anything.

And she was ready to take any job she could, as long as it kept her thoughts away from this.

She finished her inspection. The weapon's chamber was clean and functioned properly, nothing to worry about. So she switched to the Desert Eagle.

"You seem to do that a lot", a loud voice boomed near her, she looked up to Derek Reeses, who was sitting near her. "You don't need to do it that often." he added.

Allison chuckled, which she was sure Reese did not hear thanks to the noise of the chopper's engine. "I know, but it helps me… concentrating. And it reassures me."

Derek's eyes widened. "Seriously ? A weapon is reassuring, this I know, but… doing that, heck it's so boring. I do it only when it's necessary."

"Well, we don't have the same habits it seems…" Derek laughed. "Yeah. Seems so."

All of a sudden, the copilot's voice rang: "We're approaching the target, ETA 1 minute. You better get ready."

"See ? I was doing it at the right moment." Allison said, grinning. Derek only rolled his eyes.

* * *

The wind blew dust all around the man as he kept walking and walking, apparently indifferent to the sand creeping under his coat. His pace was as regular as when he woke up, nothing showed he could be tired. As the night slowly fell, the temperatures dropped significantly, but he did not even seem to feel it.

In fact he _did_ not feel it. He did not feel anything.

But he heard the noise coming. His head swiveled in its direction, and he quickly identified it as a helicopter's noise. Actually there seemed to be several helicopters coming.

Which was true. About twenty seconds later, two Huey Hog military helicopters armed with side-mounted M134 miniguns and door-mounted M60s came into view. They were followed by heavily-armed Boeing AH-6 choppers. He watched them circle around him with a blank face. Then, the Hueys came down until they almost touched the ground, dropping off thirteen soldiers armed with large-caliber assault rifles, light machine guns, and even one with a grenade launcher. They deployed around him, using rocks as cover.

He was completely surrounded.

However, he clearly saw the young girl, aiming at him with an assault rifle. He saw her eyes widen, and her expression turn from determined to shocked.

And instantly, something was triggered inside him.

SCAN TARGET…

TARGET IDENTIFIED AS "ALLISON YOUNG"

Action: ENGAGE INFILTRATION MODE

* * *

Allison crouched behind the rock, aiming her weapon right at the cyborg's head. From the corner of her eyes she saw the other guys encircle the target and grinned internally. Now it could not do anything without having its head blown off. _Excellent. Now we can start with the _serious _business. And first… let's see what it looks like._

She squinted, concentrating on its face as the dust caused by the helicopters began to dissipate. Though she could not see clearly the cyborg's features, it already seemed strangely familiar. After a few seconds she could distinct more… blond, straight hair, a sharply defined nose…

A few seconds more and she saw everything. A gasp of surprise and shock escaped her lips as her eyes widened. She stood there, unmoving and speechless, unable to look away.

_Carter ?_

It was him, without a doubt. Same grey, inscrutable eyes, and this confused expression… she had already seen it, more than once, it was unmistakable.

It could _not_ be anyone else.

_But… wait._ She frowned. _He shouldn't be here… he was captured by Skynet, why would they…_Then it hit her. There was only one reason for why he was here. And that was precisely what she had feared.

_Fuck, fuck, FUCK ! _She wiped a tear out of her eye and reached for her earpiece. "Reese, d'you copy ? Young here."

"I hear you. What is it ?"

"It's Lewis."

A silence followed before…

"_What ?_ Are you sure ?"

"One hundred percent. I'd recognize this face anywhere. I assume Skynet reverted him, otherwise he shouldn't be here."

"… Oh, I see. And now, he's playing the part ?"

Allison reached for her belt and pulled the EMP rifle grenade she had brought before adjusting it on her weapon's barrel.

"Yeah."

* * *

SCAN WEAPON

Identification : FN FAL ASSAULT RIFLE

AMMUNITION : Mk. 54 Mod. 0 EMP GRENADE

WARNING

DIRECT IMPACT WILL SHUT SYSTEM DOWN

Action : GAIN TARGET'S TRUST

Allison secured the grenade and aimed at him again. She saw he was behaving differently now. He was backing slowly, very slowly, confusion written all over his face, his hands raised up. It was just like this moment, a long time ago, in the garage… after he turned bad for the first time.

_He's trying to get me to trust him. I'm sorry, Carter. I can't. Not yet._

Then her finger tightened on the rifle's trigger.

_BANG !_

The grenade shot forward so fast he could not dodge it. The three claws in front of the projectile jabbed into his skin, then a high-intensity electromagnetic discharge burst out of the grenade. Instantly, Carter froze.

ALERT

SYSTEM OVERLOAD

CPU AREA 35-552 DISCONNECTED

CPU AREA 12-758 DISCONNECTED

CPU AREA 25-325 DISCONNECTED

SECONDARY CIRCUIT DISCONNECTED

...

* * *

Allison watched him as he twitched once, twice, then collapsed on the ground. His brain was simply knocked out for about one hour, but now an external power source would be needed to reactivate his cybernetic functions. That meant he could not move an inch, nor see anything.

The knot in her throat tightened. She felt guilty for treating him that way, but she had no choice. She could not afford any risk. And she _knew_ it was just acting.

Skynet would not have let him out otherwise.

_I'm sorry..._

37


	38. Chapter 38 : Like A Soldier

"Good shot ! Let's go guys !" the commanding officer shouted.

Everyone instantly hurried to the spot where the cyborg was lying still, its eyes still open, surprise written all over its face.

Derek Reese instantly reacted. "Damn me, it's Lewis!"

This earned several exclamations from a few soldiers.

"What !"

"You mean _the _Lewis?"

"Carter Lewis ?"

"Enough !" the Lieutenant said. "You, you and you, help me, we're taking him. The others, secure the area ! Now !"

Everyone complied, including Allison, who hurried away from him as fast as she could.

She knew that was the only thing to do… He would have wanted her to do so…

But… she just _shot_ him.

Him.

How would she be able to look him in the eye now ?

Maybe it would never happen again. Worse, maybe he would not become himself again. Maybe she would have to kill him.

But if it had to happen... she would not back away. Ever. She would take a last look at his face and blast his corrupted brain clean off.

"We got him !"

"Okay, everyone back in the choppers ! Mission's complete, let's go !"

**40** **minutes later…**

Right as the choppers landed on the tarmac of Bakersfield Resistance Base Carter had been taken to the laboratory where some engineers had been instructed to try and see if he could be reverted to his original self.

His _human_ self.

Allison was in front of the lab's door, sitting on a bench and looking at the floor.

She did not move, did not speak. She was as still as a statue. And after all, what was there to say ? Or to do ? She could only wait. And _that_… was one of the worst thing she had to bear. Right now she would have preferred to fight some 740s bare-handed instead of just sitting here, waiting for something that may never happen.

_Damn… DAMN ! Why did it have to happen that way ?_

_Why did it have to happen anyway ?_

_Carter… I'm so sorry._

…

_RATATATATATA !_

Allison instantly jumped on her feet as the burst of automatic fire rang… from behind the door. From the Lab. Where Carter was. Her eyes widened. _What the hell was that ? _The two guards in front of the door seemed to be asking themselves the same question as the racked their rifles. One of them opened the door, asking: "Hey, what's…"

He never finished his sentence.

A second burst rang and the soldier was suddenly thrown backward, blood splashing out of about a dozen of entry wounds. His body hit the ground with a dull _thud_. Half his face was torn off and blood gushed out of his chest.

"SHIT !" The second guy jumped backwards and fired back, inside the lab. Then turned to Allison and shouted: "RUN !". Only a second before a few bullets slammed into his right temple, ripping half his skull and spraying a fair amount of blood and brain matter.

Allison backed away and reached for her Desert Eagle. With trembling hands she pulled the slide back and released it. For the first time since she was almost shot by this clone or whatever it could be called, she was truly scared.

Because she knew exactly who had shot these men.

No one else could have done it.

_Oh God, oh my God…_

And, at this very moment, _he _walked out of the lab, and turned on his heels, mechanically. Facing her.

Carter had a CIS SR-88 assault rifle in his right hand. The barrel was still smoking. And his now impassive face was covered with blood splatters.

Not his blood.

But the worst were still his eyes. Empty, like glass balls. Expressionless.

Lifeless.

Just like this day when he went bad and almost strangled her to death.

But, this time, he had a gun.

He just could not miss.

_Carter, no… No…_

"NO !"

She raised her gun, tears flowing freely on her cheeks now. She _had_ to do it.

"I'm sorry !" she screamed before pulling the trigger.

The bullet bounced harmlessly on his head, and she shot again and again.

Until there was nothing more than a small metallic_ click_.

And she had no spare magazine on her.

And he was still here. Blood dripped from his forehead and chest where the bullets had hit him, but his eyes were still trained on her.

Examining her, as if she was just some object that could be _analyzed_.

This feeling was strange.

Right now she realized what she was.

Just a target.

Just a fragile assembly of molecules that only a few grams of metal could definitely break.

The rifle's barrel level up until it was trained on her head.

She closed her eyes. Seeing this…_ thing_ with his face… she could not bear it. It was not him anymore, and this time there nothing she could do.

This time was the last, and seeing _his_ face as she would die from _its_ hands was just too much.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered one last time. She had failed. She had fucked this up, and now it was backfiring on her.

The empty desert Eagle fell to the ground.

This… was how it ended.

_BANG !_

_BANG !_

"RUN, ALLISON ! RUN !"

Carter's assault rifle crackled again, but she felt nothing.

And then she realized someone had just shouted at her.

Another gunshot rang, another burst from the SR-88, and Allison ran. She ran as fast as she could, without looking back.

_RATATATATA !_

Something hit her hard in the left shoulder, and suddenly a sharp pain jolted in her arm. "AHHH !"

She fell to the ground, feeling like there someone was just jabbing a drill in her shoulder.

She realized it was the first time.

The first time she got shot.

The first bullet she took.

From what previously was a human. The only human that had succeeded in giving her hope.

Oh, the irony.

"NO !"

The male voice rang again, then another gunshot.

Allison began to crawl away, toward the shooter. That was her only hope.

She had been inches from being… _terminated_ by _it_. At this very moment she realized how close she had been from death.

And how much she wanted to live.

She was not alone.

"HE'S HERE ! SHOOT HIM !"

Another crack of automatic fire coming from the wall she was coming forward echoed in the corridor, immediately mirrored by Carter's retort.

Allison knew it was her chance.

She put all her might in her legs, jumped at her feet and ran again.

The wall was only one or two meters away, a few Resistance soldiers were here, their weapons trained on the threat behind her.

Right as she reached the angle, she heard Carter's weapon again, and panic rushed over her as she turned and continued to run behind the wall.

Fortunately nothing hit her this time. There was only dust and the deafening crackle of the rifle. She stopped running until she was sure to be out of _its_ sight and range of fire.

Then she turned back to the soldiers. One of them was Sergeant Derek Reese.

"You've been hit !" the young officer exclaimed, looking at the blood dripping from her shoulder. "You should go to the medical block !"

"No !" she replied. "I'm okay, I still can move my arm."

"What about the blood loss ?"

Without replying, she ripped a part or her jacket's left sleeve then tied as tight as she could it around her shoulder. "This should do."

Then she ran again. Blocking out the sounds of the screaming and crackling of rifles.

She needed to find a weapon.

She had to help.

She was a Resistance soldier after all.

* * *

[Scan structure…

DAMAGE TO EXTERNAL SHEATH : 32 %, INCREASING

DAMAGE TO MOTOR STRUCTURE: NONE]

Action : TERMINATE TARGETS ; FIND PRIORITY TARGET

The impassive Infiltrator fired again. This time the soldier wielding the M16A4 did not hide in time, and three bullets ripped through his head.

The machine kept walking forward, waiting for a new target to appear. Though it did not happen. When it reached the angle formed by the corridor it realized that the four remaining men were running away, two of them turning back to shoot at it.

Big mistake.

The cyborg locked on them in no time and fired its SR-88, riddling both humans with 5.56mm lead. And by the way emptying the last magazine

It then threw the now useless weapon and picked up the M16 rifle previously wielded by the soldier it killed before shooting the two others, took also a few magazines from the body's pouches and resumed walking.

The combat protocol had been initiated a little too early, but it did not matter.

The cyborg would find its target. Whatever it took, it was only a matter of time.

It would never stop before finding it.

That was how machines worked.

* * *

Allison stormed into the armoury where numerous soldiers were already loading various weapons. She spotted her own rifle, took it from the rack it stood on and loaded a fresh magazine of 7.62mm Armour-Piercing ammunition before putting a few others in her mag pouches.

Then picked up two M67 grenades and put them on her utility belt.

_Now's the time to make things right. That's what you'd want me to do, Carter, wouldn't you ?_

The fact that she would have to get rid of any chance of seeing him again was saddening her, but this time she had no choice. She could not plead him like she did the first time.

Her determination was even harder than any machine's armour.

It was him or her.

And she just was too attached to life to let it slip by allowing _it_ to kill her without doing anything.

At least, if it happened, she would die on her feet.

Like a soldier.

_Like a real, though fighter. Just what carter predicted I would become. __In war sacrifices have to be made. It's time for me to make my first one._

With this last thought she cocked her rifle and ran out of the armoury.

38


	39. Chapter 39 : Destruction

**Well, here I go again… I hope you will forgive me for taking that much time.**

**Since it's been a while, here's a resume of the last chapter:**

_After being neutralized, Carter Lewis who had been released is brought to Bakersfield Resistance Base in order to be freed from Skynet's control._

_Unfortunately, he reactivates and breaks free before it can be done._

_Allison, who was near the lab, escapes death by inches and thanks to the help of a few soldiers. _

_She understands there is only one choice left : fight him until one of them falls._

**Now, on with it.**

[Scan structure…

DAMAGE TO EXTERNAL SHEATH : 47%, INCREASING

DAMAGE TO MOTOR STRUCTURE : LEFT KNEE ARMOR DAMAGED ; LIBERTY OF MOVEMENT ALTERED BY 21%]

Action : TERMINATE TARGETS ; FIND PRIORITY TARGETS

The regular reports that scrolled on the Infiltrator's HUD did not faze it a bit. After all, what was damaged armour ? Just a piece of twisted metal. Liberty of movement altered ? It would just slow it down a bit, nothing critical.

It did not care about being damaged, broken, destroyed, burnt and melt into flames. All that mattered was the mission, and right now it was going pretty well. Already eighteen soldiers killed. They had now deserted the corridors, which only made its progress easier.

Suddenly an alarm blared inside the base.

Immediately a new order scrolled in the machine's monitor.

EVACUATION ALARM ACTIVATED

INITIATE SIGNAL 001875

TRANSMITTING…

* * *

**Meanwhile, about 25 000 feet above the mountains…**

The fully automated Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber was flying in the direction of the mountains, its approach undetected. Since Skynet had put its hands on it, it had even increased its stealth by fitting new engines for an even lower, in fact almost inexistent, heat signature, and had modified the bomb bays for its new intelligent missiles.

As for the AI, it wasn't really bright, but it was smart enough to track any type of target it was assigned, and deliver about any type of Skynet standard combat ammunition on it.

Suddenly, a message appeared in its flight monitor.

SIGNAL 001875 RECEIVED

ACQUIRING

SIGNAL ACQUIRED

DISTANCE 12 654 METERS ; BEARING 0.6.4 N

CHANGE COURSE ; ARM MISSILES

The bomber executed a slow, graceful turn before it lined on its objective. Shortly after, its bay bombs opened.

MISSILES ARMED

LAUNCH MISSILES

Immediately, sixteen modified AGM-158 JASSM missiles streaked from the plane's twin bays.

MISSILES LAUNCHED ; ESTIMATED TIME BEFORE IMPACT 15, 0325 SEC.

* * *

**About 15 seconds later…**

No one saw it coming.

When sixteen trails of smoke came toward the base, the first to see them were an anti-aircraft turret's gunners. They immediately got out of their turret screaming « MISSILES INCOMING ! »

But it was too late.

Skynet had modified the missiles and made them fully stealth, the Phalanx CIWS systems were unable to acquire them and the radars did not detect their approach.

It was too late.

Milliseconds before flying over the base, the missile's warheads split open, and dozens of smaller rocket-powered submunitions flew out.

They fell on the base like a rain of steel and fire, and the inferno engulfed every surface installation. The control tower, hangars, huts, training fields, were consumed by dozens of huge fireballs accompanied by the almost continuous thunder of detonations.

It was like Judgment Day all over again, on a smaller scale.

In a few seconds, everything had collapsed. The surface installations, aerial and terrestrial armoured forces of Bakersfield Resistance Base had been wiped out.

And, most of all, hundreds of people had died.

Without any chance to escape or take shelter.

Just like ants crushed by a human foot.

* * *

**At the same time in the underground installations…**

The earth shook under the tremendous firepower unleashed on the surface. Lights flickered, some even broke, dust fell from the ceilings.

And everyone looked up.

_Oh, no. _Allison thought, alarmed._ This is bad. Really bad…_

This, of course, was the reflection of everyone's thoughts.

And suddenly, a soldier came in the corridor, panting. He had several burns and bruises on him, his clothes were torn off and blood dripped from his forehead.

« The base… »

« What ? What's with the base ? »

« It's… all gone. Destroyed. Missiles wiped out everything. »

Silence fell like an anvil, and Allison felt like she was about to retch.

Everyone on the surface. Dead. Blown to bits in nothing but seconds. Hundreds of lives taken just like that.

Then, it hit her. Skynet never had located the base, yet… yet what was the best way to locate it ? Of course. It made so much sense she wondered why it never occurred to her before.

_Carter… again._

She flicked the safety off her rifle and walked away. It was time to put an end to all this.

« Where you goin' ? »

« Carter did this. He probably had a transmitter on him, that's why they found their way here. He must be… _terminated_. »

« What ? You insane? He's in there with an assault rifle, and you wanna go after him like that ? »

« It _must_ be done ! » she shouted, her eyes as hard as a block of steel. « And I'll do it. Even if it costs me my life. Unlock the door and then lock it again after I'm in. »

Derek Reese took a step forward.

« Allison, no. You can't beat him alone ! »

« I don't care. I have to do it, and I will. »

« Then let me come with you. »

« No. You stay here and wait for me to come back. If I don't, you know what to do. »

« But… »

« I said NO ! »

Another man walked up to her. It was John Connor. « Are you sure you want to take _that_ risk ? » he asked with his low, drawl voice.

She looked up to him. « Yes. » she answered fiercely. « I'll take it gladly. »

Connor did not say a word. But his eyes said everything.

« Okay then. Good luck, Allison Young. » he said solemnly.

« Thanks. » she answered plainly. Then she walked to the door.

« Unlock the door. » Connor ordered, his voice sharp and commanding.

A loud _clang_ sounded, then Allison pushed the door and walked inside, without looking back.

The huge metal panel closed with a sinister metallic _bang_, and Connor said « Lock. »

Now if she did not make it, her bones would remain sealed behind this door.

Just like she wanted to.

John Connor stared at the door for a moment. He was impressed, he had never thought a girl that young could be that determined.

It reminded him of his mother.

* * *

Allison walked quietly in the corridor, her FN FAL trained forward, ready to pull the trigger.

The area was completely empty and silent, like a tomb. _Will it be mine ?_ she wondered. _There's a chance. But… if it happens, I'll take him with me. _

Nothing moved, no noise rang. Even the alarm was deactivated. Somme lights were still flickering, but all in all it wasn't much darker than it was before. This was good, because his night vision would not be an advantage here.

All she hoped was that the 7.62mm AP rounds loaded in her weapon would be enough.

Suddenly and just as she rounded a corner, her heart skipped a beat.

He… _it_… was here. An M16 in his left hand and an M32 grenade launcher in the other.

She reacted as fast as she could, jumping out of range as a 40mm HE grenade shot out of the M32 and detonated at the end of the corridor. Far behind Allison, but the explosion still rendered her half deaf.

She immediately fired back, and the Infiltrator dodged. But in these slim corridors his possibilities were limited and a few bullets tore through his right forearm, severing it completely. The hand, still holding the M32, dropped to the ground. An M16 burst forced her to hide back behind the wall. _Shit. This is going to be hide-and-shoot for some time, it seems. Unless… Yes, this could work._

She immediately ran back into a small cavity on the side of the corridor.

The steps of the Infiltrator rang louder and louder as it neared the corner.

Allison immediately pulled out one of her grenades, and carefully removed the safety clip then the pin, trying not to make any noise and holding the lever in place. She held it as close of her body as she could. She knew, from Carter himself, that Infiltrators sometimes used infrared, and therefore tried to hide the grenade with her body heat.

It seemed to work, as the Infiltrator slowly appeared in her sight. She immediately let the lever loose and counted two seconds then threw the grenade before ducking back in the cavity.

_BOOM !_

The noise resonated in the corridor, deafening her again, and she grimaced.

_Damn, it really is a nasty sensation._

After a moment she carefully peeked in the corridor…

And was grabbed by the throat by a metallic hand then lifted from the ground.

She looked down, and saw what once had been Carter Lewis. Most of its face had been ripped off, exposing the metallic skull and two glowing blue eyes. Its whole right arm was destroyed as well as a part of its torso, its left leg was severely damaged and its clothes were torn to shreds.

It was a truly horrible sight. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out of her constricted throat. Her vision began to blur as white dots danced in front of her.

_Is this the end ?_ she thought, her brain slowly asphyxiated by the lack of air. _Is this how I leave this world ?_

But, as everything seemed to have left her mind, a bright flame suddenly shone in the darkness that was covering her.

_No ! This is not the end ! Not yet ! You can fight, girlie, he taught you that ! YOU CAN, YOU MUST FIGHT ! _

She began to writhe with renewed vigor, trying to reach the other weapon she had stuffed behind her belt.

_You can reach it. You can reach it._

Her hand scratched the handle, and she continued to fight desperately with every bit of strength remaining in her.

_COME ON !_

She was on the verge of passing out when she finally grabbed it. Immediately she pulled it out of her belt, pressed the button and jammed it into the machine's broken chest.

50 000 volts coursed through the Infiltrator when the stun gun touched its metal surface. Allison felt the shock of the discharge and yelped in sheer pain before the machine dropped her. She fell heavily, gasping from the lack of air and the pain. Her muscles were numb and she felt like she had no strength remaining.

_No. Don't stay on the ground. On your feet !_

She tried to get up, but her legs felt like chewing-gum and she fell again.

_ON YOUR FEET, SOLDIER ! ON YOUR FEET !_ It seemed like every neuron in her brain was screaming, and finally she got up on her shaking legs then looked to the machine. Her vision was blurred from tears, but she saw it stumbling back like a drunken man and hit the wall, shaking violently.

Staring down, she saw her rifle. Here, right in front of her.

_Take it and shoot. End this now. _

She took the weapon and raised it difficulty. Her muscles were still weak from the electric impulse, and it felt like the rifle weighed tons.

_Don't drop it. Aim for the head._ The words flowed through every cell, every vein, every bone and muscle. There was nothing to think of, nothing to say. Just these instructions.

_The head, the head !_ The voice became more urgent as the machine began to recover. The discharge had not been powerful enough to knock it offline.

Finally she leveled the sights with the machine's skull.

_NOW !_ the voice screamed, and with what seemed to be a terrible effort she pulled the trigger. The rifle bounced in her hands, the crackling filled her ears and the muzzle flash almost blinded her, and she dropped the FAL, not able to hold on anymore. Breathing raggedly, slowly, she backed until her back bumped against the wall, then glanced up.

The machine was still standing up, but half its skull had been blown to chunks of metal of flesh. Circuits buzzed one last time, sparks flew, then the blue light in the Infiltrator's remaining eye dimmed, and finally vanished.

This was it. Carter Lewis was dead… terminated… destroyed.

It was the end.

39


	40. Chapter 40 : Limited Success

It was over.

The hybrid known as Carter Lewis was now only a mass of scrap metal. Life did not course into it anymore.

Allison crawled to it and slowly put her hand on its left cheek which was still covered with skin, then whispered : « Goodbye, Carter. »

She did not cry. Her grief felt like she had swallowed molten steel. Yet she controlled herself. She would have all the time when they would be in a safer place.

What saddened her the most was precisely that she would have no time to bury him.

Then, as she backed a little, she noticed something…

* * *

« There's someone coming back ! » exclaimed the soldier who watched the screen of the camera that was installed behind the locked blast door. Everyone tensed instantly.

« Who ? » another man asked.

« Dunno, can't see clearly yet. »

A few seconds passed, then…

« It's her ! It's Young ! »

Cheers erupted in the corridor. She had done it ! Derek Reese sighed in relief, and Connor grinned lightly, truly impressed. She had taken down a Skynet infiltrator all on her own ? That was amazing. « Unlock the door, let her out. »

« Yessir. » the soldier said, and he complied. The door opened, and Allison stepped out, looking tired and wavering a little. Her neck had red marks over it and her face was a little bruised.

« It's done. » she said simply, and everyone cheered again.

« Remarkable. » Connor complimented, smiling now. But Allison did not smile. Something seemed… wrong. « What is it ? » the Resistance Commander asked.

Allison's eyes were clouded with pain, and she seemed to struggle not to break down. « It wasn't him. » she said, her voice almost a whisper.

« Not him ? What do you mean ? » Kate Connor asked.

« It was something else. » Allison answered. « It looked like him, but it didn't have a brain, just a Terminator chip. And, there was something written on his chin… T.O.K 655. » She stared intently at Connor, who, at this last mention, had frozen. « T.O.K. … Are you sure ? » he asked, and everyone looked at him.

« Yeah. »

Connor lowered his head. « My God… »

« You know what this means ? » Kate asked.

« Yeah. » Connor answered. « I'll explain later, we gotta get outta here before other machines come to clean the mess. »

There was no objection, no interrogation. Everyone knew he was right. So they followed him to the entry of the emergency evacuation tunnel, away from the main installations. When they finally reached the entry, John Connor typed in a code on the digital keyboard, then a second, and the blast door protecting the entry opened. Everyone entered, then the door closed, leaving them in a large tunnel lightened by ceiling neon lights. It looked like a subway tunnel, only smaller and with no rails. Then Connor went to a command panel in the wall, toggled switches then type in a code and finally pressed a red button, marked « SELF-DESTRUCT ».

« Done. Now the system is active it can't be reversed. » he said. « Let's go. »

And the survivors of Bakersfield Resistance Base followed him inside the tunnel, fleeing from what had once been a home to all of them.

On the control panel, a timer now marked 00:03:53:02. The numbers were decreasing rapidly.

No one looked back as they walked away. No one said anything. Now everything would have to start again. But as long as they were not dead, there was still hope.

Because this base was only one in a gigantic network. There was still a home for them, as long as the Resistance was still up.

Skynet had just won a battle. Not the war.

* * *

Three minutes later, as the Skynet troops landed on the devastated airfield and spread to find the entrance to the subterrain part of the base, the timer of the self-destruct system reached 00:00:00:00.

All the explosive charges scattered in the subterrain installations detonated simultaneously. The explosions were so powerful they even destroyed the surface, and, along with it, dozens of Terminators, HK Transporters and scout units. On about three square miles, everything was obliterated, the ground collapsed, and the detonation made the earth shake miles around.

When then smoke cleared, there was nothing left. Only a ridiculously large crater and indistinguishable debris. It looked like a meteor had fallen at this precise location.

And, over the chaos, Skynet Hunter-Killers hovered over the remainings of the former Resistance Base a few minutes, then flew away.

Nothing was left to find or to kill. The Resistance had cleared every trace, every clue.

The mission was not the success Skynet had hoped to be.

* * *

Under the mountains, in the evacuation tunnel, the ground shook hard, a loud rumble rang, and dust fell on the survivors of the base. Fortunately, the tunnel had been reinforced with a metal external structure and therefore nothing collapsed. The secondary blast door they had passed about one minute after starting to walk had not budged, but everyone knew that behind this door tons of earth, concrete and rocks had fallen, completely blocking the entrance and concealing it effectively. The machines would find no trace of the tunnel before long.

« Goodbye Bakersfield… » someone said. Sobs were heard, some people wailed in despair.

« This is not over. » John Connor said, loudly and determinedly. « We are still alive. And as long as we are alive, the machines will _not_ be in peace. Ever. You know that. We have lost too much to back away now. The war has just started. Don't lose hope. Don't lose faith. We have risen from our own ashes once, and we will do it again. »

Murmurs spread through the survivors, and voices shouted.

« Yeah ! We're not finished ! We'll give the metal fuckers hell as long as we live ! »

« Well said ! The Resistance never gives up ! »

« We're with you, Sir ! »

A loud cheer erupted, invading the tunnel. A cheer of hope, of determination and revenge.

Allison herself raised her rifle and let out a war cry.

For her too, this was just the beginning.

* * *

**6 months later… **

When the destruction of Bakersfield Resistance Base had been learned, many people had thought this was the end, that John Connor, the commander of the World Resistance was dead. But they had been proved wrong.

Connor, along with about a hundred survivors, had managed to evacuate the base and had been rescued by the CH-47 Chinooks of the 254th Airborne Division from Johnsondale, then travelled to Carson City, which was a major Resistance stronghold and was now the new Resistance headquarters.

Shortly after, the Resistance launched a counterattack on the Sierra Nevada, and the Skynet forces that had advanced too quickly had to withdraw, giving enough time to the humans to build new outposts and keep their hands on the whole mountain range.

Meanwhile, Allison had taken part in an offensive on Woodlake, then Lindsay and McFarland, and, as a reward to her bravery in combat and a confirmed kill count of 32 T-650s, 26 T-740s and 8 Type 380 HKs, had been promoted to the rank of Corporal, then Sergeant. She was now part of the 15th Mobile Ground Battalion which depended from the 3rd Special Operation Corps, and, despite her young age, had gained a fair amount of respect from her elder comrades.

* * *

The young brunette was currently sitting in the base's armoury, cleaning her disassembled FN FAL assault rifle with the skill and precision of an expert. After months of practice, she could do it as fast as other veterans.

« Hey Allie ! » a loud voice boomed as someone neared her. She grinned at the familiar voice and looked up.

Tim Barrett, an African American Corporal in her battalion, was staring down at her with a wide smile. « So, whassup ? »

« Oh, nothing interesting. Routine, you know. » she said, smiling back. She had gotten to know the Corporal after having been reassigned, and together they had fought in the Sierra Nevada and gained a mutual respect. He had shown to be a very capable soldier, and had saved her life twice. Now they were good friends, and Allison would often have a chat with him when she felt bad or thought about what had happened six months earlier at Bakersfield. He was very comprehensive and kind, and he also knew to keep secrets, so she spoke to him without restraint.

Aside from her former companions in Bakersfield, no one knew about Carter and what happened with his double. Except him.

« Okay, well that's good news cause I wanted to ask ya somethin'… »

« Yeah ? »

« Wanna play chess ? I'm gettin' bored… »

She laughed. « Okay, but get ready, I won't go easy on you. » Tim smirked. « That's good, cause I won't either. »

She quickly reassembled her weapon, then shouldered it and followed the Corporal.

As they traveled through a large corridor, memories flashed in her head. Memories that still pained her, but that she had renounced to fight off since a long time.

_Her first encounter with him. His smile, his warm voice when he introduced himself… The first time she had heard his name._

_« Oh hell, looks like I'm forgetting my manners… I'm Carter. Carter Lewis. »_

_« Allison Young… »_

…

_In the abandoned garage. Him, looking at her with a determined and hard stare._

_« I'll protect you and help you to protect yourself. I promise. »_

…

_After the flight, in Johsondale… when she had asked to Connor what T.O.K was… his drawl, tired voice, that put an end to all her doubts and hopes… that ended a part of her own world…_

_« A double. I've already seen one, that's a new type of Infiltrators. T.O.K. series. I don't know what it means; I just know how they're made. Skynet captures a human, scans him, analyses him on every angle, takes his memories, his manners, and puts them in a new machine that looks exactly like him. That way, the Infiltrator has experience from what the subject really lived. It makes it more capable to blend in and infiltrate. »_

_« So… this thing is a copy of Carter, with his memories inside ? »_

_« Yeah. They probably didn't even have to interrogate him, everything they needed probably was in the chip he had under his skull… »_

_«That means he… maybe he's alive ! »_

_« Unlikely. Now they have his memories they can duplicate it. And since he's… unstable, as your adventures proved it… they surely got rid of him. They don't need him anymore. I'm sorry. »_

…

« Hey, you alright ? » She snapped back to reality. The Corporal was looking at her worriedly. She sighed. « Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright. »

« Thinking about it again ? » he asked in a low voice. She chuckled. « I can't hide anything from you, can I ? »

Tim smiled. « Well, y'always have the same face when it happens. » Then, more seriously : « You sure you okay ? »

She looked at him and flashed him a smile. « Yeah, I will, don't worry. If anything, he taught me that. »

« Taught you what ? »

She slapped him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. « Well, to be strong. C'mon, the chess pieces ain't gonna move by themselves. »

**And that's the end. **

**Maybe a little prompt, but… well, I'm satisfied with it. Anyway, to anyone that read this story, I say thank you. Oh, and something else will come. I'm not over yet here.**


End file.
